Teen TitansNew Generations Storyteller Arc - The Manifesto Pages
by Inkblot24
Summary: Our heroes and their guardian allies are stricken by another looming threat- Takahara Industries has been overtaken by an enigmatic thief in the night. With Catalina's sect powerless to intervene for Shoji's sake, the Teen continuation of Titans marches across the world to Japan, seeking reason for Verra's recent imprisonment and Shoji's abnormal absence.*Read on to discover more!
1. Chapter 1

Teen Titans; New Generations; New Destinations; Arc-Restart; Chapter 22:Absolute Faith In You; Dropping the Ball; Locked Out Of Heaven.

As strange ..even with the slight 'copyright infringement ' this title may impart onto the reader, it's very standard in order for the new part two of Arc Restart to take place. Spoilers ! This is the last chapter of New Gen part one! Part two will be in the epilogue below. And one more thing! ~ Arc restart's main enemy WAS mentioned (think back to the Eternal railway ride with our princess waiting for her stop? Eh? Well, Ami is still I'll and the cause is uncertain; was it her weakening link between Amaterasu's influencia, magic? Or was Gem's craft only a temporary one shot to reassure the heroes during their trip to the Under realms of the Snowy Barrens'?

Stick around and you will not be disappointed for what is to come! The ending from chapter, now Chapter 22, is about to continue!

Aiden was in shock against the rippling illusion as Horus forced their veiled cover apart. The heroes followed behind and the guardins and deity did what they could to escape the collapsing world forever.

As if a time bubble to keep the citizens in check as the last time, the world soon came back to itself. Waves crashed as California stayed wide awake to what October would bring with it. The cheers of boardwalk goers was impossible to miss. They had come from the same location as the last arc! (These new years location after trapping and defeating Roku. )

"Is..everyone present?" Kori asked, herhead spinning in a tilt as she held onto Ami with both arms. Dick was helping both she and Anna up, when a sudden portal opened to the hero's surprise.

"Oy...we are in trouble it seems." Kaien had revert to his weathered, sailor look before the vortex's breaking point had shifted. The ones to arrive through the oval shaped tear were not as the heroes had expected .

~Queen..Hecate!?~ Kaien gasped and fell to his knees, forcing glares into his branch family's eyes to do the same.

Esma, Kayu, Ron..though not Cliff or Vee had their backs lowered before the crone's elegant stature. Dark as they did entail, her tresses were long beneath her tall cowl's hood. He grecian deity was knwn in more than a single culture. Death, rebirth, mysterious and magical...Kayu gulped by her presence. This, was Kaien's true employer all along.

"Verr?" Gar looked up and remembered this deity from his pull away into forgotten realms. ( She led him back to his friends, when captured by Rokou in arc These new years part two.)

"Kay...then , um..how do you do..miss-

~Silence is golden, I must meet now with your leader. ~

Damian dusted off his arms as he rose to greet the woman in violet and obsidian. "That would be me. " He replied, unafraid of this creature from another time and space. She looked him over with a silent face, her features still and completely withdrawn. Even Raven would find it troublesome to see into this, goddess's mind.

~Your kind are unloyal to the contract..and, yet a prophecy was averted. The boy for to-day, he is to come before the coun-

~Why ? We defeated Apep!" Anna shouted, her ears ringing badly enough from enough headaches in her time.

~He is to locate the Phoenix by his strength. The great bird has become tainted by an outsider's , influence.~ The deity spoke this in a domineeering way. Ann frowned and crossed her arms strickly to her chest. Puffing it out even while Astarte was present, the red- headed teen spoke up. Her brother was so gonna have to get his own way out of the underworlder's territory. She was near out of spark herself!

~Hathor would not like that you'd exclude one from the prophecy. ~

"Huh?" Ann looked into Horus's eyes as he smirked inwardly to the trickster deity woman. ~The girl is his protector,a new breed of Guardian for our council to watch over-

~Your sect has made contact with the human branch!?~ Hecate started , swiftly taken aback by the sun- child of lore's sharp tongue.

~Yes, she, the siblings Ava Marie and Amelia as well are included within the written works of such a master- plan. ~

~What proof? Did Isis decide to defy the Grecian laws' truce? And of course, she doth understand whyst we dareth to not approach 'her highness..' You are no messenger to my kin.. child. ~

~He is no longer a prince, simply a Universal being meant to return order to as it should be. Should we not regard this , Queen of Hades?~

Hecate sniffed by Horus's remark. Time was short and ticking away, the deity had predicted a new threat..yet the Heroic Titans remained in the dark still..

~This decree is not of chance to ye or thy charges. The council requires 'the chosen of the golden dawn' . Have you made my day yet? Your mother would indeed weep! Come , come, I intend to explain wherest thy sect resides. ~ Aiden was grasped onto with the strength of the occultic mother's will. Her power encased him as Anna shouted out. Herfeet flew from her parents' side as the past seemed to return again to torment them all!

~Then if you should steal away his living hour a while, I too shall attend this meeting before the Eternal realms' orderlies!~

Hecate swerved around to see the intruders who had leapt through a single rift together.

"Raven! Ava Marie! " Starfire cried with tears of joy clinging to her moistened eyelids..

"What took you guys?" Gar smirked as the two heroines turned their eyes to meet face to face with 'the crone' in the flesh.

~You are not well to address this manner as a royal child to the E-

~The importance of this matter involves my connection to the Chosen's fate. ~ Ava interrupted with a solid line, not a frown to locate on her pale face. "Lady Hecate, you are here, though did not get everyone's permission. Ava is the 'guardian ' to the prophecy's last child of the dragon's influence." Raven butted in and had everyone amazed by her sworn loyalty to the teams.

~This is unecessary ! Inexcusable! Why must you delay what cannot be un- done?~ The groan of the crone herself made Raven raise a brow. Why was the deity so desperate to leave their world? What was her real plan ?

~The guardian pillar of the Daia line , has been dismissed...I...have no time left in order to stop the rise!-

~Catalina!?~ Kaien exclaimed as if this were his daughter in danger of being harmed by a second party. ~What does she have ta do with yer makin' a scene!-

Hecate raised her eyes to the sky and let out a low , croak of a chuckle. ~There is another playing her role..yet his mind is of delerium-

"What else is new..." Vee rolled his eyes to this new villain's description.

~He has already left the station of my kin...we must ride to he whom unfurls the balance!~

"Hecate!" Raven levitated to the deity and tried to calm her adversary down. "What is after you? Why are you trying to take Aiden-

~The council is strict. I will say nothing more than this in warning. ~ The goddess brushed off the empath with a flick of her wrist. ~The Manifesto page is still active, the prophecy is no longer living proof, yet it has sewn the seeds of spite and vengence in another...you may only know...find the last copy of the Forbidden myth! It has become a tome in which I cannot end alone...~ Hecate turned to smoke and mist as her words hovered overhead the heroes' heads.

~You are still taking my brother!~ Ann fired her weapon into the dying skies of and evening glare.

~Twigh..light...she got away by changin' the hour...damned crone!~ Vee soon had a strange senstation though in his limbs as the dog had lost his ability toremain tangible. "Uh oh...Guys!" Wally pointed for the heroes to take notice. Verra just shrugged and chuckled nervously by the command from his original form.

~They probably did not convict Takahara!.. ~ He shouted alound, as the switch made the air dense as a low rising cloud bed.

~Idiot! I'm not gonna let you skiddadle fer yer own sake! Get yer butt onto the ground ...or I!-

~Too late! Go to fix Ami's condition, she's weak as Amaterasu's power is...it's in our rift...figure it out soon! Find the one responsible..hurry!~

Kayu dove in after Vee and immediately lost his form of a deity- being,tothat of his older guise 'Calumon of interdimensional appearances.'

~Ohh! We have lift off! I'm gonna find the way back with V-Vee! Wait for uuuusss!~

Ron was in lunge position to jump in, though Kaien stopped his reckless family member from getting caught in the tides as well. ~If Sayumon sees you as bait fer the 'manifesto' whatsermacallit, then I'm a dead foul with fox's jaws still gripin on the truth!~

~Huh?~ Henry still wanted to guess that Kaien did not just make up sayings from time to time. ~

~He'll look like the culprit if he stands out, foxes are tricksters.~ The warrior Glen shook his head and frownd. "You forgot about that ?~ Henry blushed by the lesson having been disregarded too quickly. ~Training within the Eternal school was a bore. I am hands- on mage! And not a book savv-

~No wonder you cannot keep up with the story! Hah! Back ta class ! I thought you were a reincarnated kid of fae origin? Did ya lie to me on that one!?~

~Heavens forbid it ! ~ Henry mock- fainted to annoy Glen , as Gregory watched on with a growing headache.

"Thenn..wait!" Ann checked on Ami with her eyes focused on something..she would have never guessed...

"Mana, energy..you need more than a candy bar! " Annie clapped her palm straight over her face and sighed heavily.

"She's...psychic?-

"Yup, we are connected by 'big bird' so I know more than you guys would have thought..or even myself..."

"You are like...that's cool and all." Damian shook his head as the anxiety in him only grew. "But my father and the entire JLA will be up in arms if they find out what's been going on for an entire month!-

"Time is doing fine, Dami. " Dick reassured his family member, even though it was hard to expect a reply by that comment.

"Why should I not want to question your part in this mess, Grayson?" Dami squinted the elder's way as his eyes narrowed dangerously towards the ex-hero. "I know what those spirit do, how they work and function right under our noses. Team? We are headed to Japan. Ami will be fine since it is a place a part of Amaterasu's powers. Kori? Send word to Bruce and make sure h-

"I'm not letting you go free after all we went through to stop a winter- demon ! " Damian Wayne fumed to the ex- leader stealing his job in broad daylight. "I will tell Bruce to let me go too. Otherwise, my team will keep you on -

~Impossible!~ Ron shook his head. ~We cannot be grounded by mortals! Don't be so naiive! ~

"You can bring your team. It's your mission..." Dick was met with looks of surprise from the heroes. "Why? " Cy shouted into his best friend's ear. "Anna just almost went berserker on a goddess's qrse, and you think it's ok to keep trekkin' round the world like that?!-

~Ami's life is on the line , dad. ~ Jackie shot through the comm unit in Bb's palm. "Whoa! You came outta nowhere! What-

~Papa bear, let em go . Ann can do more good as a Titan if we stop stayin' inside the lines. This could be epic! We could be attacked again and not even see this new enemy creeping up!~

~Conspiracies? Look what you did to my kid's head! ~ Cy was furious as he ranted on to Jackie to drop her rebellious phase. It would no get her intoa good school after all the chaos they had been through. She ended the call after that by simply signing off in a huff. Such loyalty for poor Ami...Cy had to talk to Karen once his job was kaput..

"We go to Shoji's pad, fixthis with a long explanation then get outta Tokyo. If those spirit are playin' the human race like we have no say in how they act...then I won't hold back fer' my kids' future. "

~Dad indeedy! You are so noble, oh St-

"Griping already?" Greg reprimanded Ron as the fox of storms shut his trap as dark as any cavern in the ground.

"Then Tokyo, we have to give Ami backher strength-

"Then, if it wouldbe alright with everyone..." Ava stood beside a careful Raven as she made a suggestion.

"By portal would be the fastest option."

"Can we even open those? I could with enough energy...but it's no-

~Yello? Guardians and empath ? We are your ticket to the Titans' main destination!~ Henry chirped as his wand was out and working with a bug eyed Greg beside himself. "When Dreamwake finds out what we have...-

"Aiden and pip- squeak first, then you guys can get back home and relax!" Ann grunt in her deepest tone, her dominating nature was still firey as that bird had intended it to be. "To Japan!"

"Right!" The heroes shouted aloud as the guardian and magician bunch got to work creating a way across the globe.

Ava held her chest and thought to herself. As easily as she had found train rides to be the second best beside flight, her heart could not stop thinking about what fear really seemed to be. A demon causing her to doubt her role as a reincarnated child of a snow maiden. The fight and wars fought that could decide the outcome for both worlds...Was Aiden ok? Should Alue knw more than she had been shown previously? ?..

~Soon...~ Ava gulped back her growing fears. ~I just hope that we are not too late..~

/EPILOGUE!

Teen Titans; Arc Restart; New Generations; The Manifesto Pages arc: Return of the Crooked Story- teller. In progress, needs revision ..now I give to you..arc 13!

Preview:

The doors to a wide room led to narrowing halls, up flights of stairs to a well crafted elevator..All of this technology baffled the mastermind hidden, as his eyes widened curiously towards the ceiling pannels. It was now or never in a thousand years...

The swift footwork of the tyrant visitor's saff was that of those clad as mysteriously as their advisor. Their manager would become just that, a powerhouse to lead the time in his direction.

"Sire? Oh! I mean, Mr-

"Hah! Lao Ming!" The leader of the smalo group turned his face towards one of his attendants. Well, she was of Asian descent with the features of a youth, as she was only a teen by her built.

"Lao Ming, we must use caution as this foreign state coud deceive ...quiet and after me..." The girl huffed as her short sleeves were pushed back . She crossed her arms and knew that waiting would be risky as well.

"Charl!"She hissed to her companion as his ears lined up by Lao Ming's lips. "You require m-

"You would think our leader to know the location of our target.." She whispered while their head honcho's back was turned. "He is new to this realm. " Charl shrugged and pretended that he was just as invisible as his allies in this distant realm.

Lao Ming smacked her face by how these males were so clueless! The council could send their best...they were criminals of their supposed realms, following a mysterious youth like herself who spoke in an adult's tone..He was the most suspicious of their very crooked group. Lao Ming had been an acrobat in her time of spirit hours. Charl had been a son to a knight in his period of living. This man..this silver haired trickster made her ears perk up...As a Tenkit citizen that was!

(Kitten (Tenkit) rearranged, as these are hybrid spirits with cat attributes. From earlier arcs, Jin Mae had been the emperor's bratty daughter who had kidnapped Robin to make him her own...yuck..After a successful escape route and aide from the false Doctor Aaron Brocton( Desguised Slade under orders by Roku's made influence), the princess had not returned until many years later. Greg had found that after a fall from her favorite horse, JinMae had turmed to a persona that was of a Lynx spirit from even further back into the past. Min was then returned to her end as Hathor came to use that body as her incarnate of the Sphinx's relic. She now is the assure height as JinMae, though her origin is of a big cat, not a cow as the original Hathor was viewed. She had many forms so I draw able to pin down one character flaw to add to this reincarnated goddess's guise..)

"Should I box your ears, as to be so cruel of course?" Teased Charl with a chortle. Lao Ming did not enjoy being taunted as her eyes dialated towards the rude bore- her partner in crime!

"Touch me and you'll fly ten stories back down to the netherworld...I won't take your!-

"We have arrived, despite your idiotic banter.." The silver haired male leader sniffed with an uptured nose. He prestended to walk ahead even as the glares behind our enigmatic villain grew to fill the hallway.

The door was to an office that read 'Head' in the title. The silver haired male grinned by this stroke of decent luck. "I'll do the negotiating. " He shot back in a low voice to his crew of misfits. "Stay here and keep watch. "

"But..they could have an assasin!" The Tenkit child hissed in rebuttle. "You must bring at least my self in! You might be ambushed by a killer!" The silver haired leader sighed, then had only Charl to stand guard per his lackey's request.

Upon entering the unoccupied room, the staff head's desk left an imprssion on the leader as he closed the door behind him. "So..dark..." Lao Ming whispered by the privacy these humans craved...how interesting...

"Check the desk, don't wait. " The leader pushed his cohort to walk, possibly straight into the enemy's line of sight!

"O..ok..." Lao Ming was not always brave, anxious more so ewhen she was teased. Though this was so off...everything...looked li-

~Hidden spire! Strike !~ The sound of a sharp blade whizzed by with Lao Ming hanging on by her claws to a stretch of the room's lighting ...

"I did not understand this world to hide so many secrets..." The one to walk out and greet the braisen brat enemy, was none other than a rather cross Sakurano Ayane with Lori's power in hand.

"You traveled to this plane to create a mess of it. I will not allow matters tpbe muddled by your actions! "

"You are also of another time...Youreyes tell a stary- eyed story of tragic loss.." The boy as the mastermind,yet his fsce wasthat of a wizarding soul. He held a bokk of many sacred symbols in his grasp. Lao Ming transformed into a beastly being of her Tenkit origins. It circled the advisor to an again missing Takahara Shoji...only Lorelai Ainsley's magic would protect this place from an interdimensional foe...wait!

~That book is! ~ She had not a chance to finish as the relic handed over it's power to this ice blue eyed villain in silver and black clothing. ~'The queen laghed and set her serrvant child to the celler..She poured again and again insults to engulf the child's very thoughts. Each stinging the girls skin as red cinders by a flaming hearth' ...now..Your power over me is weak...you scrub floors and toil for your ruler...Story to tell, story to write...change this maiden to be quite a sight!~

~A story teller..the race of magical...power.. hungry sages!~ Lori screamed* as her magic evaporated. Only to be stolen a while by this intruder...

"So..weak..." She fell into a deep sleep as the Tenkit girl chuckled with her cheshire smile still in place. "Is the woman as you say?" Lao Ming asked her leader. He paused and shut his book with a snap. "She had the scent of a traitor ...even now I recall 'his' rebellion within the Isles..it burns into my memory..I sold everything to have my revenge on the demon with a red glare..that monster...Raku..."

"Then this place is now under your control!-

"No no, we must first look into our under -cover spy's work...she is not even aware of what that influence has done. Then, only then shall we have the honor of hunting down the monsters of that traitor's line..to show him who the TRUE MANIFESTATION GOD IS!"

(This character is in my Wattpad story The Forbidden Myth, Veil of Times series..Go check it out cause I I'll only reveal in the next arc to come!)

He was in such a traumatized state that the return to a new time, would have seemed a task to best all other ploys..

"I will rewrite this history..starting with the descendants of the demon's evil clan!" Laughter would never drown out the horrific times , those days were lost. The boy was but a resurfacing 'evil' in himself. Yet for that trade, the Book of Manifesto had become his...his weapon to win over this world so strange and new..

"I , Sir Marcus Philanius Borgges shall become the one to destroy..those...to have thrown this enemy to the strix's jaws. His kin will pay dearly for having allowed my turning ...just wait...I will hunt you all to the brink of extinction! Starting with the realms bent apart and the days of their ominous fall to come!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Read the preview charcter's story in my arc on Wattpad..I won't be doing updating a mile a minute..School comes first! So read on and stay curious for the Story Teller Arc right here! Not done yet. Stick around for more on this crossover.


	2. Chapter 2

Teen Titans; New Generations; Part One; StoryTeller Arc- The Manifesto Pages; Chapter 1: Estranged Invite ; Secrets Kept; Ayane's Disappearance!

/

/Just a timely explanaion as to why Aiden, Ava, Isa and newly returned Horus are not in this arc in the beginning chapter.

Ava left when she said soon,which implies that heractions were separate from her team's

She is a spirit world princess and the guardian of lunar regions to the north. I will add her defecting passage into the second chapter to explain Ava Marie's break

Tokyo Harbor was a sight in the autumn, even within city limits. The heroes had gone in summer to become a part of the Obon festival's hoards. A swimming set of memories and of an amnesia - induced Bushido from that summer, had Richard wonder if they would be meeting with that same hero for room and board again. Kori tried to coax Ami into opening her eyes, at least once they had arrived. Yet the sunny child just coughed with her lids shut tight from the evening's rays to her mother's dismay.

"It will be dark soon, Jump was getting up early in the states. " Wally said with a voice distracted by all that he saw.

"We have to find a shrine, one that is still a part of Japan's hi-

"The city has those!" Kiori recalled that the past had not lft the city scape's present time line. Shintoism was still a strong pillar to both young and older generations. "Then we won't be far away." Dick nodded while setting himself on the path they would likely travel before night fell overhead. "Titans, we are ready to start , just follow my lead . "

Damien rolled his eyes and did not interupt this time. If Ami's smiling disposition could be returned to her, then he had nothing yet further to add. Dick was a dumb, but honest father figure. A ditz, even Kori had to understand his male aloofness in a way unlike her naiivety that she had already overcome greatly.

"Dami, are you ok?" Zan peered into his eyes with a sympathetic frown on her lips. He blushed and pulled away slightly. "Y-yeah..this is just all escalating..Bruce was not even made aware..."

"He probably has a hunch." She replied with some conviction in her voice. "We are in Japan,so you can go up tothat fat-cat and give him a box behind the ears! It'll be alright.."

"Not why I was worried..but the cat makes me upset..thanks.."

"I wasn't trying to-

"Ok!" Cy threw his arms up as soon as the streets had gotten broader. "This is not an ok place ta' be! Red light ...what?"

"We were by a main water-

"Don't care! Do you have any idea why we have this place right in front of us? How bad it is for the kids!? We won't get around it! I'm sorry y'll, but we have gotta find another street. This 'district' should be off limits. "

He turned to their fearless leader who flushed red with frustration. "My only choice w-

"Red light!" Cy pointed up to the glowing display of street signs and vendor plots...

"We did not come here to save r-

"Back to the present!" Anna covered her ears and shouted. "Since only a couple of you speak this county's native tongue, we can still get lost. Uncle Cy is right. We can scout around and find a way to drive out of here, unseen. "

She turned to her allies with an honest, domineering leader's glare. "Anyone got a problem with that?"

"N..no..." Gar squeaked in his smallest, mouse form. "All clear..."

"Great, but what if we get caught?.." Dami tried to whisper , though had still been too excited to lower his voice. Aiden was not here, so they had to try to fool the locals...

"How? Well...Oh! Cy, Dad, do wht you do best and be our decoy team-

"Me? Anna..That's not-

"Now.. wait a sec!" Gar exclaimed as he revert to his humanoid form. "Cy and I usually did the stallin' . We were, um..pretty much all over the news back when,so..not gonna team up the wrong way. It's a Titans' tradition dudes! "

"Doesn't matter who goes, just not K-

"I will go, as these flashing signs do not scare me! Women who can fight bravely are not to be stereotyped as weak will'ed! You could however be victimized my mumgorfkas! This is considered on my home planet as, 'trarglerschllich-allgha!" (Traffic-alley . Made up.)

"Uh, oh...you dumb guys pissed her off.." Wally backed away from the Dick, Cy and Gar.

"We..will -

"I will lead, this place is not as you say. Red lights are most times a warning which alerts sight- less beings to remain aware of their, situation. We had previously been forced into some sort of trap , though nothing so ...real on your earth..remember that I had been in the position-

"They..this policy is too differnt. People work..um...as a care-

"Ami's life is in pain...we are not to argue! "

"Got it."

So, powerhouse Kori, Richard (as her 'friend' that evening) , Gar as a mouse, and Cy as another passerby, decided to outwit the party- goers until their path had been lit instead of a good time out on the town. Drinking tonight was taboo, as was mingling with the locals. They were to go inside, then find an exit to the main street as soon as possible.

"This plan is dangerous...I don't want Anna getting involved while her power is halved. " Dick said this as Kaien in his fox form puffed out it's chest to speak. ~Is she as powerless as her mama? She's almost a woman an' you are fergettin' her marine badge with Astarte's approved seal! So daddy, don't ferget what her power does in the heat o a fight.~

"That's why I am worried. " Dick left a sigh as his eyes remained weary and restless to this strange venture. "She's more than not ok working with us, if she uses her magic, I don't know what the locals will do..."

"They'll forget I look human or something? These are people! Not stinking cult worshipers for pete's sake!" Anna crossed her arms to protest. "You don't know, anything could make you Titans a target. I want you to stay away from this mess , we'll make a path. Even if that means knocking down a few-

"Just..promise me that we are still a ..whatever comes...back up squad. You guys are not full- blow Titans! Besides Gar and Wally of course."

"Wow, she dissed you..that was -

"I..if we go down, but I think it'll be fine. " Richard cleared his throat to say. " "Good luck weaving past the -

"Don't!...ah..don't bring that up." He motioned to Zan who stayed with Dami and the gang.

/Into the streets ahead...

"Hope he's not afraid of the dark." Greg mumbled to himself, as if seeing an aura from far away ...

"Dark?" Zan asked now that the adults had gone off to mingle with the pardy- hardy local fare. "What do you mean by ...are they already targets!-

"No!" Greg shook his head with a grunt. "The Red Light district...is , well. You watch tv enough to know. I won't say much-

"It'll a sad place if you don't live like Shoji. Happy?"

"Oh...so watch out for pick pockets!-

"No, for people who don't care for human lives. Body or spirit. " Greg rolled his, leaving Zatanna in a daze. The Titans did not realize WHAT Kabukicho was!

"That's..that can be said for anywhere...ok...then.."

The red light district aside, the newest villain from far away lands had other plans in a certain..faction's building within the Shinjuku area of Tokyo herself...

/Out of the city limits...

Ayane struggled to see through her blindfold. Her hands were tightly bound as any hostage could write about their terrifying experience. She listened however, her ears atune to the hustle and bustle...of a place that made her senses reel! It smelled of both alcohol and smoke...the poor advisor to her missing chairman orced her ears to work overtime.

~The foreigner boy said something about her position...we have to locate the ones coming to rescue her. Ha-

~I am still in Japan..thank gods...~

~Is she awake!?~ One japanese male was leaning over her, his breath hot against her neatly ironed collar. Now her suit would have to be dry cleaned! Ugh! First that runt had taken over Takahara's office, though could he think this far ahead? How long had she been knocked out?

~Remove her blindfold ! Sugurou.~

The snap of cloth from the staff to Shoji's plane's eyes made the stinging stench of something vile strike the princess down. What was going to happen to Ayane!?

"She looks like she will talk.." The leader of this 'yakuza' band of underworld thieves was confident, though aware that the shock of this prisoner's could lead to a rebellion of her unjust treatment. He wanted to stay calm anyway. The district was within an unlawful part part of Japan. The city had many resources to hide secrets, weapons, even intel to take away the pride of the local law enforcement officers.

"We were requested by an outside source , to have you brought before-

"I do not condone violence that is so underhanded!-

"Ungh!" Ayane was conked over with a weapon in one man's hand. It may havebeen the cotact, or even the buzz she felt since being wide awake to such changes...was this...

"We were warned that you , are to be watched closely. Just a secretary of a mad- scientist? He has lived among this city without bringing the police to investigate...now we have proof to send him off without haste."

Ayane gasped as a rolled up paper fell to the floor, then her eyes could not turn back to look away.

Takahara was convicted! The Japanese special investgators...the man was cuffing her dear ally!

"No..he..was safe-

"He was doing impossible work that even the 'gods' would condone as heinous. " The snort of the leader was unmasked as Ayane saw just who this band really was, where this place was!

"You were kept here to reveal to us everything you know of project...'-

"That..the federal investigators will gladly hear my side! You men are indecent assassins as far as you have made that clear!" Ayane glared into her earlier attacker's eyes with Lorelai's magic presence behind their orbs so azure.

"W...hag! You are not human from the reports!"

The men were already bringing themselves to stand, yet Sakurano had all of her self defense recalled from Lori's training days on every continent of the Spirit Bounds , (Title for Spirit World origin lands.) She called on a whistle that brought the shadows round the room to turn into fumes before her enemies. "Takahara is innocent! You will nothold me from defending his rights!" She brought the two hair pieces that the current Ayane used to emerge as staves.

"I will have you arrested first ! Show me the exit to your manor! You mobsters are to be convicted for your crimes!" Her skill was impressive as the princess had partly trained under the elder guardians, (Lori as the guardian of Aleiah's oath and as Aria's pupil to be.) The boss stayed surrounded by his crew. Yet if that informant found out about her?...

"Seal all of the exits! Lock her inside! " Key-coded finger scanners were set in the rooms of their manor of mafia men. Ayane dashed away from her attacker after clocking a fighting assassin's head in with a crunshing 'twist*.'

"Lori." Ayane panted, knowing her influencial form would lose without enough of the spirit queen's crafts to back her incarnate.

"Your magic is my relic...release the power of infinite whirl- winds!" Over wind and water, Lorelai Ainsley had been a powerful summoner in the past from a young age. The whirlpools strengthened as the foggy blackness only added to her rage. The mob boss clawed at the doors he had previously closed...magic!? Power hungry and unfamiliar..she was a Kitsune that meant to steal souls, tonight!

"Pl..please! " The male fell to his knees and pleaded pitifully onto the wooden floor. "I do not wish to die! Please! Let us quell your anger! What is it you waant!?"

"Let me go free. " Ayane whipped her powerful swirls of water in the direction of the bawling kingpin. "Ohhooo! No! No! Aiii! P..pleeease! I will grant...FINE! OPEN THE DOORS! " His scream had the winds nearly clip by the man's skull, his hair touseled and his garb tarnished with ...mud? An illusion!?

 _"Kuso!"_ (Informal, Am well aware! ) The boss of his trampled estabishment pounded his dusty fists into the ground. "She...is almost as crafty as a fox...We must relay this de-

"How are your boys keeping our princess! Busy busy?" The men froze by their visitor at the door of the demolished and muddy manor...

"You..are...Are you h-

 _"Humm...where_ is..the princess? I heard a noise on top of this hillside...did you break off our deal?" The cat eyed girl had come, and the other had...The boss of the group gulped, readying to beg or die be-

 **"aaaagghch!"** The cat's tail dragged along the screaming boss towards her hungry jaws. Many tails whipped about to catch the bewitched assassins by their ankles.

"B..bake.. !?" The mobster's leader sputtered with his only blade and gun knocked away . "You bozos are sloppy! She's no push-over!( Sort of reminds you of Gizmo a bit?) The cat of Tenkit origin pounced, stealing the scream of every enemy rioter as her own growls left the men ...to lose control of themselves ...(Deficate in shame? Little gritty. )

 **"Agh!** She..she is !"

"Did you show her the article, useless?" The grunt of the mob kingpin had Lao Ming decide on a perfect punishment for his ...lack of tact. "If she does manage to report us, then your organization will go extinct as well! Wanna join the club, smart guy!? Then get those dopes to scout the city! Should be a sweet deal..your life included!"

Lao Ming revert to her one-tailed self , scowling loudly. Her demands would be met or these men would end up crashing from their manor hide- out, right into the cliffs above the entire city of Tokyo! (The area in Trouble in Tokyo, that was a temple setting, but I think this is pretty close by location. )

"Tonight, or even tomorrow, you bring back her lying face to be shut out of our precious take-over ...otherwise.." Lao Ming's claws pushed deep into the shouder of the anxious kingpin. "Should you live..It'll be when my boss is satifyied by your work. Don't mess up again!"

"Oh...odd...if you are a creature..Why do you pull the strings? What country are you from to-

"You...would think of me as an exiled rebel..one of the 'bad guys like you outcasts.' " Lao Ming ignored the man's shouts as he had heard it all before. ~Daddy was a general..he sold me off to win himself the respect of our _kin...raaaw!_ I hate lying..but those tools are my play- things.~ Lao shut her thoughts away and dashed off, back to the nightly world she so craved to wreak later havoc on.

/

As the heroes had expected, this was not the edo period as the teens and guardian had well forgotten the times had changed...very naiive for adults.

"I _told_ you!" Greg chuckled by how he and a few others had known to roll the eye balls , knowing Greg to be a bit slick at times with his words.

"It's ...nightlife in Shinjuku! We are fine! Why did you go on by making it sound like an opium den, dummy!" Damian growled Kaien's way for having played them all silly. Dick was also glared at by Kori, who still remained alert on these modern streets.

"Where is the cat's pad?" Gar asked to loosen up his buds a bit.

"Across town, we have to go to the real business district...dangitt! I didn't come here last time we were called to stop Brushogun!-

"I just don't want the kids exp-

"Almost nineteen in a year! Stop it. We have to move through and not mingle with the tourists too much. Don't seem vulnerable. Any of you!"

"Whoa!" The rest was Shinjuku's blend of fact and fantasy before the eyes of these willing foreigners. Dick tried tolstay away from the tugging arms of sales persons clad in the oddest fashion he had only seen in films. The host bar had Zan blush as they pushed past the crowded streets in the main area of -

~Oy! I've been h'it!~ Kaien joked as his efforts lost out to the party-god's own curiosity.

 _"Man down! Man down!"_ Gar screeched as the town blared befored the humiliated Titans.

"Calm..thoughts..no...fear...-

 **"Agh!"** Raven stopped a flyer from falling in between her fingertips. This place was super busy with business dealers on every street corner!

"You guys are making this more than-

"Ohh, hiya? I'm no-

 ** _"Wallace!"_** Kori bopped the dumb speedster on his mach-five noggin. _"Owcha!_ **Why** _Kor?"_

The woman who had tried to reel in her floudering fish giggled and walked back into the hostess bar.

"Indecent ...Strangers?" Another young woman approached while the group headeddown a side street. She was completely differernt, with a cigarrette between her ruby lips and a solid gaze intheir direction. Her height was shorter than the adults they had passed, so Dick assumed something aweful in this case (not realizing that height couldbe biological. He assumed her to be working in a bad place.) He did not say a word yet to his family. She wore a tight corset over a puffy, all frills blouse, her skirt was gothic victorian, birdcage notincluded however, and she wore biker boots ofa black sheen that included fishnet stockings.. Her hair was in neon pink and white pigtails. She had on a belt...bulky or.. Or leather...he did not care so much to pry as to what she kept inside her pockets..

"No..thank you! Ha...We are going, no th-

"Bilingual. You have no need to speak like a chattering animal-

 _"Animal?"_ Gar exclaimed, though was stopped by both Raven and Cyborg.

"Where are you from?-

"Matters not. " The girl dropped her butt of ashes and stepped onto it with her chunky boots , all black and a lolita fashion gothic. "I just run here for the thrills, nothing crazy. You are lost.. I can see that."

"Would you be able to take us through to the main streets? We have some place to be-

"An!-

"Please." Ann did something only Ami and the Titans would know. She bowed , though only less than formally to a total stranger. "Funny, kid. Alright..you have changed me to act accordingly. ." The girl's roughly edged , sharp features had Anna in a daze. Just like Al or her kin...

"Please follow me. This town is busy, and noise clutters the mind. You are already confused. Zombies are welcome, though only if they wish to mingle with the crowds."

"Poetic." Raven noted, as the girl smiled a small thanks. "Any time."

The trip was not just towards the last road, leading outside of and away from Kabukicho's attractions. The steps the heroes had to climb made Ann wonder why she had not gone after Ava and her brother sooner. Isa had not been present, as her son needed to find his way back to the after- life with proper guidence.

Al had also been...quiet, as Greg told the team how he did not trust her methods one just gawked like a child at all of the sights of the city more, suburban neighborhood.

"Where is she taking us?" Zan whispered to Dami who just kept quiet and did not reply. If she were some sort of crooked fiend, he would have known by now to call it quits. She, this gothic lolita type, had a secret that made the heroes wary all the same.

Ami was holding on to her fading self as Kori clung tightly without a single tear in her eye. If Ami did not find help in the land they had been summoned to, then Kori would be heartbroken. Dick not not want to lose girl they were following was suspicious. He coudn't help but carry on however...

"A..." Gar saw it as well. A structure of the Shinto faith. A temple of this person's choice..why here?"

"How...excuse me." Dick tried to ask the girl in a manner he had remembered since his years as a Titan. She had stopped, right before a set of two large bells hanging from a pillar mad of dark wooden beams. The Titans watched curiously as the procession began. The gothic girl stood before the pillar, stretchedout her fingertips to yang thebell, though gently it sounded. "Now, do as I." She said thiswithconviction for her guests to overhear. Cy knew why and did the same as expected. If theywere to ever learn of this odd person's agenda, then as in Rome...

She took to standing back and tossed a coin from her pocket in her blouse into a wooden box for offerings..A yen coin held value to the gods, interesting. Raven watched next as the girl brought her hands togetheras if to pray. She then pulled then apart twice, clapping in a dun, dun*, motion. It was interesting again as the heroes followed the girl. Her eyesshut and left to reflect on her desires and faults.

She finally opened her eyes, undid her trance with a sigle bow, and turned to the heroes curtly.

"That is how good fortune may be kept something unreachable. I was taught that by my teachers. Oh, you do not live here...I will change." She skid away to leave inside the door behind the opposite facing rooms of thetemple's complex. Raven was stumped, tough had to know the girl's secret. Ann tapped harrop and scanned the area with an eagle eye. Never missing a single leaf dancing from the tree's bough. A great big tree stood before the place that the odd girl had gone inside of. Cyborg tapped his bud Richard on the shoulder. "Should we-

"She'll be back. " Dick shook his head to Cy's question. "I think I know the answer. "

"Dad..your detective skills were-

"Nightwing is still alive in this time." The hero cleared his throat to explain. "She's obviously more than we saw in the ally then. So I think we should stay . "

"What about Amelia?" Kori gasped a if her husband had done something unforgivable. "She will only lose her life here! Why are!-

"Y...you can still sense it.." Raven looked to Richard, sunned by what it was or was supposedly to the her team. "No, I just feel like something is here, wanting us to find the answer. Ami might benefit. ."

"Amatera...su..." Ami had Kori with her eyes wide awake to the youth's gentle croak.

 _"Amy!"_ She hugged her youngest and wept , hoping to warm the dear's frozen bones with her embrace a bit longer."

"Oh..thank gods ... " Henry sighed as he felt a tear , only brush it back with an obvious sniffle. "What is this?" Kaien asked in his more human present self. "There is magic I sense in this spot!"

"You guessed correctly. " The girl returned to have an entirely different look that left the team shaken. "You...are a priestess..." Raven gulped, knowing now why they had ben brought here, why Dick had refused to leave without his answer.

"This is the temple of our sister deity, Amaterasu hime is the main pillar of light..I had not understood why my sister had sent me to locate you in Shinjuku. I know why now that was a wise action to trust others like yourself."

"Pretty fluent..Fun lie before, you said you could speak English. But you can breathe it too." Dami noted as the girl shoved back a lock of now clean, white and pink hair. "It is my job to do what I can for those seeking our guidance. You travellers were here for one purpose, or was it of another's orders?"

"We came to save this child. " Greg had Starfire show the suffering Ami the young priestess in her white and red Miko attire. "She is weakened psychically. I know a way to save her life force . The deity mother watches over...I am intruigued by this."

"Ah..should she not be helped right away?" Kori tried to ask without seeming rushed. "My daughter is still only a child...she did not know how to explain...what would happen if her powers-

"Come, the time will be till tomorrow if we do not act as is proper. " The girl had the teens follow her into the roomsshe had previously gone. "Wait here." It looked like an office, yet the room beside it had the feel of a dojo, all wooden interior and candles about the floor and walls. "Cleansing first, then we -

"I...will stay outside." Raven decided this as her magic could cause problems for Ami's recovery. Dick allowed it as the risk would be greatin attempting to connect with the goddess's energy itself.

"No words spoken..I will use a healing ability that I have inherited from my family's line..."

"Psychic..." Zan gaped. Raven just stayed to watch her friends' backs. "Yes...I am a powerful priestess of the Ijiyama line...my power is similar to your friend's..."

"Oh.." Kori held her husband's hand as Ami's energy was slowly coming back to her. She was glowing with a white light of the girl's healing power around her unmoving frame. Ami twitched a bit by her toes and fingertips as he started to stir. "There. " The girl stood slowly by her long robes and ended the procedure with a solemn stare into the child's own eyes.

"ann...Ag...O...My head..."

"Ami!" Ann was still hoping to ask the teen in red and white how she had cured Amelia without blinking. Kori wept onto Amy's form as both she and Dick were overjoyed to see their little sunshine coming back from a dark slumber.

/

"I do...not understand!" Henry gawked by how easy that had seemed. "The energy here...it's the goddess's." Dick replied to the young priestess. She shrugged and just walked over to call Raven back into the temple.

"So, her energy had to come from Amaterasu or she'd basically..."

"She would lose her life force, maybe go into a comatose state for a while. I was glad you had done this sooner. The better it is to start, the greater results will follow. "

"Again, you are confusing us." Raven knit her brows, hoping she had been wrong. "Then Ami, who was touched by Amaterasu's magic influence, can be hurt badly and not recover...if he does not come to a shrine dedicated to the sun goddess?"

"Yes, that I what I am saying to you. She made a vow as we who are also influenced in a similar way to the deity. The sister deity is poweful enough to have us lose hope, as well as carry it. Your child there should become a priestess and her power may protect her next time she uses too much of it. " The teens and heroes sat this time in an areawhere green tea was being served with mochi for the season.

"What is your name, if we tell you our reason for being here first..and our names. I know it's not customary to work in that order..." Dick tried to explain. "Though..you saved our youngest daughter and we cannot thank you enough. But Raven is right. Ami is still only twelve , thirteen in the summer. We don't want to jeopardize her future-

"The cat..is useless.." The girl finally felt that her chance had come to explain enough.

"Ami knows me, I have watched over her before, in a second body. "

"Huh?...You..aren't you then?" Ann asked with a brow raised slightly. "No...I am in, a differerent form today, to have you know what Ami- chan has been forbidden from speaking of. "

The form this teen talked of was not as the heroes wouldhave expected. "I show to you my true face...please remember my partner."

Ami instantly perked up, her memories returning with a vivid set of orbs on her host. "It's _you!_ Haru!"

The girl finally smiled by the feelings of grandure for so long disregarded. Her tail was white, her ears as well. The deity looked a deity, though was one of Amelia's familiar foxes!

"My dear friend.." The fox eared teen smiled to her ally wit a grin never wiltling away. "You are finally able to know my thanks, and know just what must be done. "

/

Magical, foxes, or Kitsune in folklore. Kabukicho being mistaken for a time period the Titans would mistake as strangers to Japan, and Ayane being hunted down for a bumbling Shoji's - Wait? Start over!

The Titans have met a new ally who was closer than believed. Haru, the fox familiar and helper of Amaterasu's pupil . If the goddess has a master plan, then what of the returning (from wattpad story! Go catch up!), boy villain from the spirit world, Marcus Borgges? Is Lao Ming going to remain a threat on Ayane's mission in locating her boss in turmoil? Is Raven's hunch right, that if Ami is harmed again,that only Japanese magic can cure her?

Kabukicho is a real location. I was trying to be careful and throw in some gags to stay under the T for teen lin es. Anywho, this arc is just beginning. Read on and find out in chapter 2 what becomes of our heroes next! Stay curious for much more to come!


	3. Chapter 3

Teen Titans; New Generations; Part One - The Manifesto Pages Arc; Chapter 2: End of the line; Free style Rendezvous- Wandering Far North- The Magi Draped in Silver Moonlight.

/

Ayane ducked under a chair and watched as her allies had to beat away a spy from the outside. This cat- child was a proper assassin- possibly as well as carrying baggage of her own along for the ride. She had a face that matched the mysterious Min's clan's features. Yet her branch must have been from a remote , desert region of the spirit divides.

~Kaien! Behind you!~ Lori mind spoke to keep the kitten from seeing right through her facade. The evil in this kitty's heart was that of a suffering soul as Ayane in Lori's teen aged body spun in to dodge a miasma cat- beast's claws. "Owch! Mad creature! W-

"No...Lori , is !" Ayane shook her head and head right for the exit. Out into Kabukicho she fled with her hair in tangles and no end in sight. "Have to...fin -

"Ah!" Ayane dropped to her knees and saw the group of ugly mobsters heading right for the princess! She scrambled to her feet and rushed back into the den of wolves- and cat children or just one.

"We have to leave! We have company coming! Please, hold your fire boys!" Her eyes lit with the power of Aria's long dead student reborn. Ron and Kaien gasped before falling back torun towards the escape door in the facility's decrepid basement. The men from earlier who had been frozen in the hall , finally awoke to send the dogs and teen princess high into the air. "Portal! We are... free!"

The vortex sucked it's visitors in, leaving the lightening struck looks of the staff to remain. The mob boss bawled onto his knees in shock by what was in store for the helpless lackey of a demon cat.

"Boys...didn't I say...you had to catch them or pay?!" The cat girl would toy with her food , not devour for they would still be excellent hunting hounds to catch a couple...of runnaway foxes.

"So-..S-sorrry feline deity!" The boss wailed as if she had the power to end him then. His posse shivered from having been chewed on by the miasma cats she kept. Lao Ming clearedher throat and her entire routine...would change very soon .They would find her to be a two-faced killer before long...

"Try again, in the next city over...heh...I thought your prideful bunch had a reputation to keep? Well!" The cat clawed at the wall beside her with eyes glaring the mens' souls. The mob boss had the bar keep and his staff quieted with interest. This would be a long night...

"We, are here and not going to lose to your foe. Let us try to stop them before ...your investor says otherwise-

"It is up to me if you live, not him." Lao Ming had the male gulping where he stood nervously. "Yes, miss cat-

"Lady Ming. Get it right ." She dipped her face to meet the red- hued mortal's tear stained one. "Do not make another mistake, or your firm will go down in history...as mysteriously spirited to the land of the dead..." Her grin was that which could sever souls from bodies! Malignent was her set of orbs that carved a mark right across the mob boss's frail heart. "Yes..as you order us,we shall find and imprison the ...enemies of your faction-

"Good boy!" The girl cat had sent an astrally drawn fish to her miama beasts. She had ignored the conformation!? Why was this kitten so dangerous?

"I hear you, and I nowwhere you dwell. Go. Do not lose their trail again. Or you will be the next to rest between my lovely pet's jaws." The mobsters paled by the threat,their resolve shaken by the supernatural enemy before-

"As you wish..Madame Ming." Such flattery should have been enough...yet the city was dark in the night. The light would shine, yet still their senses remained dumb for what was to happen ...

/

The sun was not yet up after a night of fretting and staying alert. Dick had to sleep in as Kori refused to let he or their allies scour the city streets for suspects. The first to rise had been the one to meet just whom she would have expected to drop in...with her shoes still not off-

~Kaede. This is a surprise.~ The fox maiden priestess had found her sister..The black sheep of their little family, the silver haired copy was a few years apart from the younger Haru. "Did you leave to fill your belly on -

"Oh, we are immortal and unable to cope!" The elder rolled her eyes and left a lazy grin to dumbfound her younger twin. "Haru, you have not eaten, you 'fast' as if your life is stolen already." The grunt from the younger's lips turnedc to a sneer. She had an idea what that action against the eastern sect would lead to...damnable devouring indeed!

"You will lose yourself to the light of that city. It is unclean, you may not return without first-

"Shower? Then I will go. You should have let those mortals rise to know what ails we Kitsune- born so!"

"Do not tempt my rage, just go!" Haru was in charge since her second eldest was incapable of standing still in one place..It was as if their roles were reversed to a degree!

"Have you not said anything though?" Kaede teased as her shoes were discarded by the doorway. "I know you had that bit of dark energy to sink your teeth into last night, did you have a tummy ache?-

"No! You ...you are unclean! Now, leave me to my work! Argh!" The dogs barked in the early morn while Raven had just been batting her eyes away to hear a sliding door *SLAM in the background.

Kaede was upstairs forgetting her troubles, yet she irritated Haru to no end to ...maybe say a few words in between. They had guests, and outsiders were forbidden on the grounds of the sun goddess's inner sanctum. The heroes did not know it, but they were within another void that Amaterasu governed in modern times. She was alive, though well...that was not the real dilemma for her foxes to fret over.

Haru did dust and cook to keep her morning from turning sour. The sun was fading towards winter hours. It would not be long until snow would lead those travelling in the dark, to rest as their gods would allow it. Statues (hopefully not littered by graffitti), would become friends to weary pedestrians. The prayers of the elderly and young alike...Haru hoped for a wonderful new year to start...all before those leaves -

"Uh-

"Oh!" Haru turned to meet the coffee- less empath's eyes even with a perfect cup of tea extended . "Would you like to..." Haru stopped the heroine from her gesture. "I will gladly take the chance to explain..though now is not a proper time. Help me with the morning meal. We have less time as your friends have overslept. " Raven held back a small laugh by how charming the kitsune's tongue was in modern times. Sort of how Kori's still was, only during the most strenuous of times since her step into motherhood!

Haru's tail twitched, unhideen and amused as she set it back to flop under her attire. No humans could know. The Titans were expected to be here in the land of the rising sun. Yet anything could go awry.

The third to awaken had been Kori as her eyes opened right before a still dozing Mr. Grayson. She waited, though found it impossible to fight with her grumbling husband anymore than she had to. Hopefully, this would act as a time to not run rampant through Tokyo as before. Dick had learned to let go..at least Kori hadn't really expected as much.

Ann was not alright with how she had to sleep beside Ami's futon. Her eyes were blood strained from having to kick the kid aside half the night. "W...he-

"Ohayooo!" Ami jumped onto Verra's puppy tummy in the next instance. Her shrill yell created a horribly, distruptive echo that woke up the entire first floor! "Awww! Amelia!? Why !?" Anna shouted with a whine in voice before gripping the youngest's leg and pulling her down. "Really rude! You are so gonna get it!" She had missed Ami who ended up play gagged by her sister, though she still kept giggling by the rough housing method. "You are laate! Soldier ?...or are you just a scout! Sound off!-

"Wrong alarm! C'mere! " The two were too late to have not been busted by an annoyed Dick Grayson. His hair was messier than Aiden's on a school day. "You two...are not being very polite to our host-

"Haru is...Haru!?" Ami called out and the fox came in a poof of smoke- or a mad dash to be exact.

"What seems to be the trouble? Are you alright, Young Ami?-

"She cried wolf..." Dami saw it and was in disbelief. He fell back into his futon and grunted while heading back to dream land undeterred.

/

"Haru is the protector of this place, and of Amaterasu's students!" Amelia prided by the mention of such -

"No, no!" Kori interrupted her daughter strictly. "You..then that trip with Shoji to Japan..it was to!-

"I'm a miko in training, _duh!_ What did you **think** I was? A back-up dancer for Andrea _Grotto?"_ (Arianna G*-*-/-de, spoof there!) Raven rolled her eyes with Greg to this. "We couldn't _even_ tell the difference." She droned sarcastically.

"Well, I tried to tell you..like a miko...but you just ignored me! I was warning you a lot after...well, Haru is right here! We should start from the beginning!-

"Why are you humans and..." Kaede had come from the other hall with a shocked look on her face. She had the same, though longer ceramonial robes than Haru. Her face was pale and she had a serious yet fickle frown compared to her sister's poker face.

"Why are you working in a -

"Why are you yelling!?" Haru cut her twin off as the elder sunk back in defeat. "You...are _befriending_ that child?" The anxious fox frowned. Haru said nothing and took a sip of he tea. Breakfast woulkd become brunch by these antics...

Kaede did not push any more as she stayed and watched on in her kitsune skin. ~The girl is...touched by our goddess's energy...~ The fox thought while the team met with one another. Her silvery eyes scanned for anything suspicious. Haru was lucky that she had been of a high standing position. Amaterasu was just wasting time ...it was not safe to stay on the mortal plane for so long...

She just stayed and drank in the scene with those watchful orbs. Haru also kept her charges as her first and only priority. The temple could fall. After all, it was only a decoy for the foxes to stand guard . The human world was dangerous, yet something had crept through these walls, unidentified even by A...

"You had us...come here to learn something. Ami was able to wake up." Richard wondered as the fox younger returned a glance to her spoilt sister. "You were to arrive and find your strength renewed. We are a pathway...you of the human brand of the west have no reason to stay. My only concern was our young student of the mystic arts. She is important to our founder's good work. "

"Then , Amaterasu is here." Raven added. Haru nodded to this, tough stopped herself to reply in response to the reason. "She cannot be seen . Her condition has worsened as her reincarnate was born frail. Her power is in jeopardy within the Eternal sect's walls..."

"The solar maiden?" Henry gasped by the terrible news. "Why is she losing her energy? Was it...Ami's magic ? She should not then-

"It was a sacrifice by the four directional spirits. Many stand beside separate sects in time, yet we are left under the Elemental of the Wind. East is to the skies and water, to wood and to the moon's gleam. Yet our Spirit which governed this sect before others had, had been killed and stripped of its powers. It was ...by the same soul stealers as when the Red Lord's army had conquered the country of the six legged 'lung' . If not only by this cruelty, our deity was cast aside as the kin of spirit strayed from its path...your time would have been in human eras, the 'enlightenment'. "

Haru was sadly lost by what this had to do with the present, the rest by her one breath was replayed over, unclenched. "The southern sect of that time was still governed by the Fire Bird . The West was Dragon Earth in many forms. The fourth was to the North as Lady Aneiu who had her clans clashing in the heat of battle with other demon clans. The loss of her seer ally was what made the shift possible. Yet, this time, Amaterasu was sent to Govern the half of the sun- sect to this country. The oth-

er is ..another in which will not meet with outsiders. " Haru did not approve of the new, male sect holder. As if she had to protect the reborn Amaterasu-hime from danger! "Our sect has a deity of the sun and it has only rejected her presence. I do not know why, yet I believe the council will alow her to perish...-

"Then we go with the next sect holder, or lose our spirit powers to transcend space time. " Kaede sighed by the sob fest that continued to bore the fox to tears. "We are in danger if our Hime is stripped of her life the same way! " Haru's fox ears stood back aganst her skull defensively. "Ami may be the one to reverse this princess's affluction forever! We have to try-

"She is not of our blood or of this country's pride and history!" Kaede spat as Ami lowered her head yelling eldest's remarks.

"Ami, was not suppo-

 _"Wizard,_ you have guests by the door. " Haru directed her attention on the hallway entrance. 'Sorcerer' Greggory removed himself as if he had been backanded by a deity's reprimand..It felt the same as Bao Shi's coldness...

"Why did you just kick him out?" Cy demanded to know as the kitsune held their ground, readying for an all out blitz!..

"Whoa, Mate! It's stuffy as bloody e'll in here!" Ron came through the door with a wet and worried Kaien hugging onto a bedraggled bundle. "We have ta' go." He whispered to the heroes. "We are bein' tailed by a sure- shot lioness!"

"Huh?..Did you say...but this is _Tokyo!?_ Where _were_ you guys !?" Gar shouted as Kaede perked up her ears for sound...vibrations...trucks!

"Your burly friend is correct-

"I beg 'yer pardun?" Kaien was unamused for once, his being the clown while Vee was AWOL and all!

"I sense it too!" Raven felt her emotions fly right out the window by that remark. Henry lowered his elven ears and moaned.."We are in danger once more...Titans!..."

Biker gang...mobs? Raven dodged as a flying attack of rubble doubled over the plot with a revv of the gangster's motor bike. "Eek! They are hading this way!-

 **"AHA!"** The one to shock the heroes had the whole rubble riding crew dead in their tracks, frightened.

 _ **~Kaede!?~**_ Haru shouted via the speak as her ears lifted from such an-

 _~Yiyiyiyiyiyaaaa!~_ She thunderstruck the gunmen from where they stood, kicking and screaming off the hill, and back to the firstflight of stairs they had come from. To reach the temple,a good number of 'holy' steps were in place..It was a great test of will, how clever!

 _"wwwwhhhaaa!_ " The **CRASH*** of ten motor bikes let the mobsters to run from their destrpyed, fire spewing bikes in a huff. Durty with grime and residue, a bon fre lit up the morning air.

"They...were dumped-

 _"NOT...FUNNY! **KAEDE!".**_ The huffing , puffing elder kitsune stomped over to her younger, flighty twin and was close to the very edge of the temple cluff...

 **"Ahhghg!"** I was helping _youuu!"_ Kaede whined as her ears were tugged by her red eyed sibling. The fight..was just catty banter and 'a vile spewing of forked tongues' ...firey..

"Ok!" Haru finally decided that her sister had learned her lesson quite effectively. "Get moving, chosen heroes! We won't know when they'll bring reinforcements!" She had been serious as the Titans rushed to grab and pack their things into one, tight bundle. "Ami?" Kori stopped by her youngest child and lowered her coy smile to meet another. "Are you healed well enough to make the journey , are you 'hundreds of per- cent?"

"Like a boomerang, I'm swingin!-

"No , puns...I am on a mile high..sugar- crash with those antics of your's." Ann tutted to her sister with a bonk* as that 'solid reminder stood candy- cane tall.'

"No fun for you. Vee wouldn't say my jokes are THAT cheesey." She stuck out her tongue to giggle back playfully.

"In heck, or wherever that dog landed, I'm sure he's enjoying himself. Being the biggest trickster I know of." Ron sighed with a thought on those days. Sayumon had been like a second mother to Vee...had had been an understatement under the family's circumstances.

/

And , if only Hell had been a safe enough option. Hecate was already by the entrence and fuming like a wraith to the skies above.

~This...this cannot!-

/

She tested her soldiers to find a way inside. They had been locked out of the Aternate after- world without a key to manage by. The leader..the unknown void keeper had...

~Madame Hecate.~ One male looked to his superior with the eyes of a frustrated worker. Aiden watched while in his chained down state, the bubble no more willing to pop , than Ava was to find them both an exit. The dungeon was dreary and led deep underground. Just as many myths believed, it happened to hold somesolemn truth, wh- Ah! Wait!?

"Unm...Ava?" Aiden looked to this princess of the snowy barrens and saw her eyes remain sharp as daggers that whole while they had traversed. "She's going to crack." Ava's eyes never once waivered,yet her smirk was hidden. Alue had halted the goddess of mystic death- arts for a few moments. Great job, Al!

"We can dodged this controversy-

"Uh, are you going to die by **THAT?..."** Aiden tried to whisper as Hecate's eats were filled with her own futile grunts of useless power. "Al is the new leader to the darkest parts of the Eternal sanctum." Ava shrugged with a turn from the fun scene. "We don't have to stick around long. " Aiden gaped by how dark his sister really was. She was a total terror!

"C'mon."As he waited for her arm to lower the barrier's hold, their chances had been dashed by a damn bat on the cave's ceiling. Aiden heard it sound like the tinkling of a bell, more to add with the screech of a full blowm alarm! Hecate lowered her arm and turned with eyes lit from the depths of Hades' prime reminder. Ava burst the bubble with her craft, then gripped Aiden's aro to head back towards their only exit.

"You just wung the whole thing? What kind of a tactician are you!?" He blurted out in a flushed way, tumbling over his words as they avoided Hecate's purple mounds of fox- fire.

 _"Hah!_ We can't run away!-

"We aren't! We just have to find the Phoenix ourselves! They cannot do that!" She said briefly before turning left into a stalag-

 _"MIIGHT!...Might_ we try a different route?" Her eyes scanned for a way..up...out!" _"Avvaaa!"_ Aiden felt her powers rush uncontrollably as an icy stream . Alaska's winter was not far off!*

~The surface shall not find you! Close the gates! Do it!" Se commanded a minor troll as it took to rushing after the group, past and to the door...

"you..." Ava gasped and let herself pant in a furious frenzy...Uh-oh. Aiden felt the icy winds whip past his cheek. "No, Ava!" She let her flurries rule the air. They barreled over the dim- wit enemy as he managed to struggle in a way much too inhumane than a princess she be perceived...

"Whoa...w-

"We have an exit! **RUN!"** He did , she followed behind. Her boots grazed the earth as cleats to a winning point.

His battered form would freeze it there were a chance out of ...hell that winter had come to collect in their path. Ava just used her art to steal the doorway shut, freezing it into place befor grabbijng the key from Al's palace out of her pocket. "Hell can sleep a while. "She gasped while the temperature dropped outside, making Ava shiver from the icy path they would have to walk. "W-..No...we..beat-

"It'll only be a few hours until she can break that wall. It's temporary, so we have to find a tall peak..one large enough to grant us entrance like before-

"Are..you going to..but you'll die!" Aiden cried, gripping his sister and slowly shaking her by the shoulders. She had him jump back, her eyes clear on their deal. "I'm your guardian in death and otherwise, It's my job appointed by my test in this life..." She stopped to add something, though instead left to walk on the crunching frosty earth as they were intended. "Here." She threw Aiden a summoned amount of her power to transport object.."Mountain...gear? Are you..." He was not unaware. She WAS dead serious. "In order to reach that peak, we have to climb it." Ava breathed out the cold from coating her lungs. "We have to become the mountain,if we must reach the top before sunset."

"I...guess you'll be cheering me on?" Aiden nervously rubbed the back of hs neck to ask. She just starred at his fsce, blankly. Then, with a *swish of her royal, silvery cape, Ava turned towards the wilderness with eyes narrowed for the worst to arise. "Just , stay close, and walk slow. Exerting your strength this soon would kill you."

"I'd freeze-

"You'd freeze from sweating so badly."(He is nervous as ever, punny but accurate.) She rolled her eyes by how he had just repeated her words. "Then let's keep walking. I will be able to scale miles since my blood is similar to a wolf's. You'll just have to master my 'swagger' before dark." She added with a smug look over her shoulder. "Great, my sister is a ruthless pack leader-

"Don't pull an 'Anna' on me. She could never beat me for the title." The princess was serious. Anna was good with her fancy footwork,.though like their father had been. Stubborn and prone to losing control all too quickly like Ava had...

"Nevermind, don't push it. You'll regret not making it far enough." Her words were in slight warning. If they did not make it to the highest Alpine- barren peak before the day's end...then would Hecate know to come searching? The darkness was her ally. Ava only was..on the intermdeiate level as a spirit born near- human. She was as Eternal blooded daemon, one similar to Tellervo or even Skadi..could he just follow her with hs gloves, hat and coat the only means against an arriving blizzard to come? A peak that had hope attached to it, had to mean that it had a portal shining as their gettaway horse and buggy.

"I won't starve you for attention if need be, sis." He smiled her way. As they path grew solid, colder, and that blistering wind howled as a spirit of the frigid divide. "You never fail to anyway." She left the words catch the air softly overhead.

"Lucky to know you still care."

/

As the pounding ears of our heroes' continues under 'harsh conditions to the north', none had quite recalled another baring his fangs towards the court's injust action taken too far this time. Kayu as Calumon sat up beside Vee in what looked to be a holding cell of a Celestial's craftmanship. ~Home sweet dream cloud..~ Cal rubbed his eyes to yawn big and wide outwards. Vee groggily recalled the door,it was...

~Heck no...what!?~ The information on the title, he was labeled for death row!?~

~Hey, Cal, we...you have to boogie ! This place is-

A door creaked *eerily open with a swing from it's precious metal hinges. ~Hide!~ Vee's mind speak had Cal make himself near intangibly by his own powers. Vee..was stuck to wander without shadows to carry him off of a cloud bed.

The smart alec was not a killer as he had been in his training days...oh, those were some fun rides they had..and now!?

~You are eating away at your host. Your picture is not all that is documented,you know.~ The eyes and ears of the two opened was Dreamwake...though..he looked positively haggard in his daunting expression of a rebel!-

~I...am _sorry,_ if I free you too soon..the rest shall fall on our heads. There is one thing you must know for I will be to your trial by every hook I have latched to Sayumon's coat sleeves.~ Vee perked an ear to listen.

~Was how this was to go originally, _Sacre bleu!_ Stupid incompetant! Did you _believe_ all of that!?~ The face before them warped to form the face of a majestic prince singing over a bed of falsely laid hopes. Cal growled in his angriest way possible. ~You tricked us! Who _are_ you!?~ He seemed taken very far aback , flinging his pudgy body forth in order to protect the daemon side of his true- blue cousin. His brother-in-arms was losing his shield!

The drawn back grin of the posh and presentable medeival brunette left a lot to be desired. For starters, an explanation over this turmoil might have made the whole cloud- kingdom sparkle* inside this dreary a fog rolling overhead..

~Forgive those actions , for you _see_ gentleman.~ The cretin swapped forms a third time. This time his true face was well and alive. He was a clever though ruthless, shifter imp's descendant. Vee cussed with a click of his stilled tongue, though this time insults would be returned to sender.

~Did you figure out my reason? Why I was sent in another's place?~ The demon returned to it's form of a beautiful spy before the traumatized two. ~You..how did you make it into -

~I was the spy, the one to offer a problem if you must, _oui?~_ He magically sat to levitate in an intangible, floating seat. ~My mission was to allow a new set of laws to pass. Those viewing the Spirit channels will not reach this place. Dreamwake...is currently indisposed at the moment, non? You do not...catch my drift!-

~We are confused, don't care about some half- baked scheme unless it's built from the source of UTTER DAMNATION _**YOU TWIT!~**_ Cal shouted as Vee let off a snort, then hid his head as this spying sort decided to strecch his limbs a bit. ~Kayumon, your mother was pure and simple...unclear of mind. That teacher Bao Shi had the sun goddess to coax back to life.~ His laugh was a ring in the ears, bloody villain if you will. Verra hated every second of this male's turned presence. He was a sorcerer with the power to -

~If you think about it, you will find your answer...~ Vee frowned by how cryptic remarks was too keen for his guy's nutty appearance to have of itself. He was no better than Lizzette or ex-Doctor Regis Holstein.

However, this was not the case as Verra saw the whelp stumble to the floor in a heap,rreturning to his previous guise as Lord Dreamwake. The willing soul to next enter through guilded doors was a certain relic that made the mens' heads turn .

 _~Lady_ Light..~Dreamwake properly bowed before her solid stare into the sturdy cage..~You broke the laws we hold dear. ~Her eyes were demanding, as if an unfocused lover willing to hurt the one, to have hurt her...

~Where, is Darkness st-

~She has not passed, het her life is failing as her clockwork heart persists. ~ As the mature voice of Light came to echo the room vividly, it almost sounded as if Darkness were somehow the voice calling out instead. Greg would laugh, yet Verra felt that eerie intuitive state of being right, form around him for once.. If that were true...then the two, Hecate as their dual creator..

~And Princess Tsani-

~To the Universal sect, she is to become it's next advisor directly...you are never to fret. Your life will be just by then, left to the sky and after- life you hath lived .~ She waved Dreamwake to her side, the Queen obviously brainwashed in Kay's opinion- she was dripping with dark words spoken! So unlike the Lady of the Solar-Celestial Quadrant!

~I won't die until we meet with your mistress Hecate.~ Verra growled in a softer tone before the wary princess. ~She took our charges against the rites that Lady Time, A' had in place-

~Should I explain, my dear lady?~ Dreamwake asked, mid through the end of Vee's declaration. The madame waved with a single, sigh. she was tiring of their rebellious talks.~If it aides thee, I care not.~ She turned to go with her eyes weary and full of strife. Perhaps this had been a mental take- over...was everyone else just as oblivious to reason of tyrrany as Light had shown?

 _~Non, non,_ you do not understand a thing ...poor puppy..~ The male spoke as his alter- self with Dreamwake's body still intact. ~Believe it...your A' is through bossing these deity- driven aside. My commander is currently working to bend the _title..."Ca...Ca ne prendra plus beaucoup de temps maintenant...reste positif, **choit."**_ With a pat onto the glass, Verr would have snapped at that hand, yet saw only in his mind...Hecate's glaring orbs boring through his flesh.

Cal waited, partly stunned and quite shaken by the Knight old France' retort...in English it would have just been the same old story for a super villain to play his role. (Stereotyping that by the US's fascination..ugh).. This person however..left a cold chill to criss cross up the Guardians' spines. He held two voices, one from another plane that was in control. How horrible...

~He's a puppet, _maybe.~_ Verra shrugged and scratched himself with his hybrid self's back leg up an' attum.

Calumon's ears retracted and his face was sullen by harbouring the same doubt..hoping Sayumon would catch on as before...she was not evil. She was relative to a trickster Youbi. There was a difference.

~Even if we find a way to call for help...why is he even 'waltzing around' ..and with the wool pulled over the Universals' eyes? ~ Vee thought over the question, giving his words a rest as Cal openly fretted. ~We'll have the chance...you won't be left in the outfield, cuz.~ Vee nudged his family with a hiss from his bruised flank. ~Dog soldiers? Eh? We had it alright in the past, but no rest for...the unfortunate-

 _~Oooh!_ You are **hurt,** Vee-Vee!~ The white character (Alter- verse version, Calumon) in a teddy costume protested. Vee was far from ready to rattle any prison bars. ~Just...keep it down...If - _**argh!~**_ The cat fell, his unconscious state had Cal retain a form from the defeat that was almost a copy of Hakuro's newest age..His blue eyes were a touch lighter on this desolate cloudbed. ~Don't lose to them...keep fighting...cuz...~ The light haired teen that had regressed by his pained , beating chest and hugged Verra as if a domestcated animal. So warm..he was afraid to leave his family member's side.

~Have...to...find a way!~ Kay gazed to the ceiling of their prison world. Sayu, Tsuki...he had to defy logic and reason to call out. ~With interest, we'll pay you back for this...stupid shifter relic!~

/

Surely Charl had been overtaken again. He held his skull, rushing to the nearest rest area with a sink and a flushed embarrassed state!

 _~Agugh!_ Water..will ruin my disguise, **Marcus!~** He sighed greedily and splashed the rushing liquid to his complexion. His expression was if ecstatic reief from the lies. If only...

~I did nothing more than have him to lose his confidence-

 _~Marcus!~_ The brunette nearly scoffed by how he had been used for the pleasure of this ruffian to mess his performance up! ~They now have a clue , pardon, moi. And as to what I have been up to! You are ruining the precious time it will take to have these daemon- alters wide awake to YOUR PLANS! You do not even **realize** what might happen if Dreamwake is kept from sight once they kn-

~A hapless devil unlike yourself? Are you daft, or simply an impudent, spoilt yester- year damon as them all! I control your will long enough to convict that dog from his core, where he stands now will determine if my hunch is _correct...Tu comprends, n'est-ce pas mon petit laquais?~_

In the devil imp's head, Marcus was toying deathly close by causing the knight of such madness to hurl itself into a breakdown. Charl instead bowed his head as if the day were through from the ears of any such gods. ~I, Sir Knight of Saule Creux, commit to you my absolute faith...-

~Should we see any more incidents such a your attitude towards my having freed your miserable soul from containment?~ Marcus added and made the imp - guise nearly pop out by sure shock. _~Y-yes..oui, Mon pe're._ (best I could do..) ~I remain your loyal shifter - being so as it stands..~

~You'll remain my messenger, and Lao Ming will count her blessings for now...having the heroes leave us out in the cold! Pitiful. Cowards, the lot..~

Marcus left the telepathic link with a rant. A passing though echoed through Charl's skull before he shrugged it away for later reflection. ~I have powers from my ancestor's rites.~ The shifter imp in disguise mumbled as he swapped to the form again of Lord Dreamwake. ~Step one, completed. Step two, find the path of the gate- keeper and trample it to dust.~

He was a no- nonsense sort of rebel, yet the plan would still continue until his chance had arisen . ~Marcus won't be called Mon _Pe're_ anymore. That title is someone _else's_ anyway.~

Leaving the public room, a figure had listened on intently whilst awaiting his mistress from her own troubling agenda.

/

~Oh...dear...~In the stall beside the sink there had been before Charl's leave, Skylar Thompson of the Transmutative unit had been awake to the words he had heard. Skylar was a representative beside Piper's unit of the summoning branch. He had graduated early on to become an errend boy for those under the secular group surrundng the Eternal Queen Aluehainyu's category. Yet according to the news back on the Eternal plane, Al had been off elsewhere. His heart raced as if Piper would not heed the call to action all too quick to judge. His hands were cold, as if ghastly attacked by that eerie presence..

 _~Piper!~_ He finally gasped, glad to see her face was still of her Eternal bloodline as Lord Dreamwake's vassal. ~How goes it in our country?~He asked in whisper, hoping not be caught or tried unfairly. ~It goes, it also has been a slippery slope. Did you gather information as Al..Lady Alue requested? Your investgation was not compromised I hope?...~

~Never better!~ Skylar let out a perfect sigh that suggested he'd held his breath up a little too much . Piper giggled under her sleeve while scanning through the channels, trying to find why they were innactive for days...

~I found however a terribly horrid secret! The Dreamwake we know is being held captive according to that unfortunate mate who just walked away...no more than a few seconds prior to this call.~ Piper listened as her ears heard more than she had expected to. ~ What is his alibi? He , then why is Dreamwake somewhere the gods cannot reach? How are you certain of this?~

~Believe me when I do tell ye that there is another spy of the opposite effect tearing this order of Celestial to pieces...from the inside.. THAT was why Sayu was declined her own investigation. None of the court orderlies are able to tell by the power this bloke has over the council's skulls!~ Skylar was tempted to learn more, yet Piper had him refrain to report via a separate channel link. ~We cannot have you torn away before more is discovered. Keep your cover intact, find if they know what or where there will be an event that might effect we 'Eternal worlders...I do not want to hear that my juniour sorcery- expert and fine executive has lost his life to a Seraph- no dear gods, that will not do!-

~You..have been around Aria, I take it?~ Skylar tried to distract the elder with his newly found pitch of an adult. ~You make me worry, you understand? I watch over those within my boundaries of knowing-

~I suppose it's a mutual agreement , nonethemore-

~Snippy, child. We have worlds to recover.~ She chuckled as her humanity was still more so than Al's grim sense of empathy, or apathy. ~Piper, I will not fail the traverses-

~Just unmask the imposter , for all eyes to bear full witness.~ She smiled on the other line telepathically before leaving Skylar with a lump in his throat. ~ You haven't a clue how daring I'll be..if not only for you..~ Sighing, he could never tell her his feelings. Never she, so pure and sweet. Al would kick him out of their unit for that misconduct!

~My job is of dire importance to she, that our morals here should matter most absolutely.~ He sounded his call to action as a silent reminder of what was in store outside the stall. ~If ever a voice weren't inside some bloke's cranium for questioning, what sort of life would there be? Dull, I would say..yet mask or no..~ Skylar revert to a form by transmutation that had his eyes shine brightest. ~Then my Moral self is as worthless as the rest of my kind.~

(I will leave this as a who is he/she moment. We'll see in the next chapter! Think back to To the future, shine brightest, and no. It is not Cecilia Daia. Keep guessing!)

/

Ok! So,the title is Wandering far north, check! Draped in silver moonlight means Marcus is using Charl to infiltrate the Celestial grand halls as Dreamwake! Check! Rendezvous, check on the Titans back in Tokyo. Aand...End of the Line is Vee on his last limb- Takahara is in a state pen . Will our heroes catch up in time? Chapter four is in the works to answer those questions! Read on and stay curious!


	4. Chapter 4

Teen Titans; New Generations; The Manifesto Pages- Part One: Chapter 3:Kaien errupts; To the Depths of The Underworld- Long Road for a positive Answer.  
/

Metaphor - Ava is to the title's Underworld, and just who is to Mount Olympus? I like the sound of this title already! The 'Long road' would symbolize our heroes discovering Shoji's where-abouts. Is Marcus really now in charge of both the Daia faction and of the dog's inherant success(s) in Tokyo? Who are the Kitsune sisters, Haru and Kaede? What is Amaterasu Hime hoping to conduct by her plans of a reincarnated 'self?' Will Ava and Aiden reach the peaks of the 'North' world before their enemy decides to move ahead? So many questions..onto Chapter 3!

Hecate rattled the walls of that rozen waste's array of underground tunnels. She hated 'acting' the hag in plans not her own! How...impudent!...

Hecate stopped herself, her rage a bubbling spring with powers beyond Hades' knowing.

~Hmmm...young scout, you will plan accordingly. Rest atop those peaks and I shall give you the form of a great falcon..go!~

~Mistress! I cannot freeze to my death!~ The soldier begged her highness to see how uncouth her planning -

~What have I to lose, your telepathic imagining will be enough. I can fill in the puzzle of their humanity. Struggle or no, you are my servant. Now, go!~

She shoved the male through a pocket in time space. Her other four, following nit- wit guards were speechless.

~Queen...Hecate-

Hecate dropped her sizzling wrist from such as her powerful mark against the Northern world.. She glared into the direction of that nay- sayer crew. ~My act is just. You are to follow, to live and die as this Universal sees fit.~

The troupe nod, rather bobbing their heads with enough strain to lose them from the attendants' shoulders. ~Y-yes! O-of c-course! M-m-majesty!~

The three other guards bowed low to the earth, if in Japan it would have been a full kowtow.

~Fine, then we shall return to the girl- ruler's cave. Aluehainyu is a coward without knowing. Her charges hold no worth..even by their importance to thee Universal realm's order. ~ Hecate shoved her cloak aside to turn for another exit. It lay hidden until a sorcerer could unearth the spectacle. ~Door to the under- realms...called up now by thy mistress of Hades!~ Her eyes never strayed from the sight. Her guards still had their heads turned from the gates of Hades as the massive, swinging doorway resembled fierce jaws to swallow the mightiest of kings alive!

~I am a queen of the unforetold. She, this replacement of Lord's Destiny's is the most mysterious being whilst I have seen..many undesireable souls born unto our history...~ Her domineering nature was unforgivable. Al had no clue of the crone's true power. The ability to sever her ties, title. Alue had to gain support from her superiors, or Hecate would surely cast the lady of Night- times into Eternal damnation.

/

Even if Ava had braved a few storms in her years as a newly- re appointed princess, it had been for naught until today.

Aiden forged a path by his still burning magic over the Golden Dragon's flame. Ava had to force herself mentally tokeep up with her determined little brother. The trekk was for the moment it snowed, brutal. In an honest fort- night they would reach the top! The two had to find a short cut...yet...

"Can you see the top!?" Ava shouted as their elevation grew to supply no air for the teens' battered lungs. Aiden shook his head, clinging to the side of the steep mountain pass and shivered a reply. "Y-you t-t-tell m-ee!" He attempted to joke even while knee- deep in snowy drifts . She , was not one to breath a contented sigh. Not while time dragged on into what wouldbe a most miserable night. "Climb higher! We have to reach the top by daybreak! Don't stop!" Her voice was clear enough to startle the shuddering blonde from his break. The teenaged mortal of Earth, a teen princess no more of the same sphere...

"Ok." He grunted and set off to not look back. Ava shifted until her weight had pushed her to roam beside her comrade, they would have a fighting chance!

The snow barricaded them until the sky was as a foggy hemisphere without end. The mist covered their path, a whisking away by immortal beings? Was this-

"Aide!" She shouted, her heart hammering by that awe- inspirig and rattling presence. "Stop!" Her eyes watered full from the cold and chill, the fear of what would try to destroy her family. "A-

"Aagh!" He was...she ran, rushing and dragging her boots to grip the icy stretch, even if it were so dangerous up ahead.

"Aiden!" She called out, her lungs cracking, her voice a choked reply out into the windy air. "W-Where are you! Aide! No! I'm coming! Hold..on!-

Aaawhh!" Ava slid where her brother had possibly collected. A boulder was the cause of the broken path being so easy to come across. He lay there, covered in snow and old as...

As she shook full of fear, Ava ripped off her own cloak of her realm's honor. She silently in tears, draped the magical piece over her brother's body, trying tok use a spell of the sun that she could not recite easily. "S..su...sun...dances...right...eous...the..thaw! Please! Aiden! We can't stay..you'll...you..." Again he could not return to this cold , dangerous place. Again she had forgotten this! ...Ava grit her drying fists andlet her tears end there. Her eyes hard as rocky, icy cliff sides. "You will not die. I won't let you." With the power of her very being...Ava had the strength left to send them from this stormy terrain. She adjusted the spot...to the crystalline world of the Eternal princess's last kin. Of the winter warmth that was as bright as any hearth.

"Calling to my realm of the daughters...the king of winter reeds and cedar ...the realm before dying and the rebirth of loss mis- taken...ye shallsave your heiresss...here! Show me the plane in which is sought! Eternal of the desert - winter world!" It as all she knew as a vortex spat out mounds of wrm light from its center. She sighed, still gripping her brother to lift thim through the traverse . "Come on...I'm taking you to my second home." That was all, as Aiden had been unconscious and had not yet seen Ava's world in its peaceful stages. Ever since Hati's destructive blow against the Norse realms, Ava had saved her strength for another time. Shehad yet the power to cross borders if this was followed through by the council. Aiden hoped that his sister would not abandon her real life as an Immortal raised to be human in face and features.

Her eyes stayed cool as the mountains they had left to be burried deep, deep in a range of forever- falling snow.

If only there had been an easier way to contact the unseen forces. Such as the Phoenix still awaiting his Chosen's return into the light.

/

As this stood to one other, Isis had not only made quick of her appearance..Hathor had been stuck within the fire- bird's temple, to clean up the mess brought on by her pupil. Pounting, the spinx deity just expected a visit after the flow of events. Yet the girl and woman of half - Azarathean blood had fled before the finale! The fire fowl was wea hurting as if his time had been left-

~In the hands of those soo unbecoming! Yet you never seem to heed warning, dumb cluck!~ She clawed uncomfodtably into her knee during that brief meditative setting. ~Isis left me to do as she would have thousands of years in our fabled history! Dowdy runt! Ohhh! Why do I not act as the leopard destroyer? Why do I suckle those of such sin..ehem! A bit outdated no less.~ Her frown evidently said it all. Something had to be done. Though, with Horus from wall to wall invisible...

~Waahh!~The cat curled her toes and screeched with long nails biting into her messy scalp. ~It is not alright! I dictate good days! Why misery!? I will not be seen as a warrior! That is not my position..besides!~ The cat gruffly huffed to ease her unsteady ranting. ~I would be demoted if ever Isis defied them...again..agh...Lo! She is such to be a branded , witch of our culture in history's foretelling! Oh...and to wha-

~Lady Autur!~ The catty sphinx of her mythos and methods fell to the floor by that shout of another's cry . She growled, letting her emotions be shut in the goddess's box of I'll magics forever...who would have done such a thing to a noble deity? ~Y...You had best state the very reason for this link's connection! What power doth thee possess!~

The face of a crying form was not as Autur had known to arise, however, an angered one was far from that emotional gaze the goddess would receive. ~Of all the gods combined, you of the sun to the east, Princess Ama..terasu - Hi...your tongue befuddles I. For ye know not why your connection to our plane is immense by your...status, I take it?~ The cat was impatient. She raised a brow as Amaterasu's younger form was not as her elder relic- self. Of stories that the gods had drawn from the pages of tomes over- seas, this child was not other teen years. Perhaps too young to govern the skies and her peoples' happiness?

~I owe this a great thanks by your comrades' kindness.~ The girl said plainly. Her bow was a sway of red, white, purple, blue and emerald green laced with a golden halo about her shoulders. ~I, Amaterasu Hime , have been sent to the Earthen sphere to aide in sealing the corrupted tome of a certain era...one we have been quite unhappy to find missing from the archives of the Immortals.~

~Oh! Dear, dear! Could it be as to why the Phoenix lord is so as he is? You know then this reason! I will indeed do what I can to support this task you carry, for one favour I request in return for...my sure services-

~Cats are decent creatures.~ Amaterasu huffed with her cheeks puffed out in disappointment. No give for this feline to take! How insincere was this cast of characters the princess would soon happen to meet? Amelia was a delight and young at the very heart ...yet deity here, were not so easy to leave her be...

~What is it you propose-

~Eh...that I escourt you to meet with the Celestial council! ~ Hathor blurt out , which shocked both the younger selves, rather than the one to hear the cat 'out right.'

~I will not waste my hours on those 'Seraphs' of grand eras , unlike my Niho-

~Then, have me left there, I have enough strength to return ..yet my Lord Phoenix is in great pain...~Hathor's lioness ears drooped , her face near tearful by the explanation. Amaterasu held her fingers to her lips so red as her home- world knew. ~Why are you only having me to do this?~ She asked, cautious of the cat's wit and daring acts to follow.

~I just ...have none to turn to since my beloved pupil, Isis refuses to return until her mission is through first. Might we not put aside these differences awhile? Even as a royal pain in my deity's time, we shoud know the laws apply to those created by the purest of imaginations-

~I do not object to this, yet you will not bark orders. We are to work together.~ Amaterasu politely bowed in thanks to this commitment made by a fellow deity. ~Really! Oh! I thank ye so, and lo! To Ra's children, we have no time, time is wasting away! To the Celestial realms on high!~ Both readied themselves for the journey, as a certain visitor of the Ethereal realm had made its way just in time for a brief pause...

/

The floors of Shoji's office building were barred from the inside, yet people still had access via a code imprinted on a slim, metallic key card. As a second measure, there was also a key pad with coded locks to keep intruders out installed.. Such ancient tech would have not been alright with Takahara Industries' head executive. Though the Titans cared little unless it were to gain access to one part of the building- the below level laboratory where Agatha of the Delphi Unit had been reborn..

~Whatcha holdin' outtahn us fer!~ Kaien sniffed as Ronald heard only static by his 'mind- spoken' receiving end. "If I am caught, YOU run out of your way and tail it , just to rescue the family. " The blonde muttered so that his uncle had his ears perked up from the insulting throw. "No fighting." Raven nudged the dog to see reason. Haru and Kaede had stayed visible to only the heroes and their enemies. Time, it was time to drive a battering ram right into those walls for answers.

"Oh, fearless leader?" Zan joked as her wave for Damian to speak left him gaping back, into her eyes. "Me? Oh, fine. If Ronaldo is finished fighting with that flame- thrower relative he's got." The teen shrugged as Ron turned to fluster by the comment. "Rude much of the time, nothing if not to Wayne's first-

"Ugh!..." Ann but her cheek and listened in on those actively using that hidden panel, exposed for a close shot.

"I saw that look." Dick grinned by how Annie had sniffed then nodded for her father to throw the culprit a 'sharp - edged ' bone. Nightwing's toys had been on him long enough as Dick Grayson. He after all was a senior Titan , hoping his daughters would let the issue go...by tomorrow?

SHHWANG!* The sound whizzed by without touching another pedestrian , the shot clean as a martial artist- well! The original Robin, was in fact no such green horn!*

"Whoa. " Ann was impressed, more thgan her instincts had told her to seem. His hit had been right into the side of the panel, yet the men or staff had already walked through the solid doors to that secret set of rooms far below. "What now?"Damian was asked this by Zan and Anna's gaze, his fingers proving to be more limber with breaking into restricted areas than Richard's adult digits.

"We hack." The ease it took made Kaien breathe a sign the North Wind would have called a best against his whistling ' according' to the dogs' uncle. The gears began to wind delicately as the current Robin got right on the ball with shutting down the door's restrictive passcode. Into it, he rewrote the key numerals, yet...Dami stopped a moment. "What...ah, I think this is -

"You got in! Why are-

"Three, two , one.." Dami ducked back into the shrub covering with his hands over his ears. The team had a thought, and it grew to have the rest stuff away their frustrations with their comrade. Sirens, loud, booming pitch after pitch! And even heat detectors on..was this a bad place to be?

"That there was'nt ever ther ' befur! That's a new installment I see!-

"Who made a mess of the system!?" Ayane shouted, her angry tune quieted by both Zan and Raven's magic powers. "Are you ok with getting caught, even with a few screwed up light bulbs ? At least no one is in dan-

"Guards! We have to leave , now!" Richard caught the scent of another intrusion...smoke-

"No...sweet...Oleand...er..." Ron had befallen the fate of a man( dog) cast aside by this criminal in the sh-

"Isa? " Raven gasped as her body grew ridged, Ayane flailed tyo get from the attack as far awa as possible. "Why are y!-

The deity was clothed as a human as before. The same place, as when the team had met Wayne in that time so long ago...( These new years part one, it was in Gotham, though the same applied. Isa was involved with pulling at Bruce's heart strings a bit. So what is to become of our heroes!)

~Agh...such a headache. ~ Kaien saw Isa grumble with a brow wet with perspiration. ~Eh? Manipulation! You be draggin us in no!-

~Bad! ~ The one to send that shiver up the Titans' spines had been a second soul in the wear of a gaudily dressed business man. ~Was this invasion your doing?" Charl toned down his speak a bit while Isa's skull only suffered by the Shifter imp in disguise's power. "Answer the question. Are you here to steal our executive head's secrets? I would like a reply if you-

"rrrah!" Ron dipped back into his Elemental form, the clouds raising well above to strike down the real jester.

"Oh! A show you'll put on for the camera? Smile wide, assassin!" The shifter imp again changed forms within a twirl of smoke. Ayane panicked and ran to the security panel, hoping someone would recognise her face. "Help! There has been a mis understanding! Open the door! We are not attacking anyone! Hey!"

Kaien grabbed the ex- princess's vessel with ease. He shook his head with a sad frown and a set pair of orange eyes. "This isn't what it looks ta be. We have to flee the scene before Japan imprisons you under false allegation-

"No!" Ayane shouted , as a child to her parent. Her slender wrist was wrestled free in time to enter a code that she did know of. "I am saving the president of this company! So, do not call me to run back and hide-

"Lori!" Kaien shouted, knowing that both voices were wrapped into that state of alarm.

She was able to unlockthe door, yet no one else was allowed inside. The silver bar against that realm slammed back down,as Ronald was unable to back the mutt Kaien in hisuseless state. He, Kaien ; the rebirth of many fire deities, was useless...Catalina was depending on his bravery..agh! For gods sake!

~Heh, I donnut' like 'er tone with the king' o' flames...Apollon would never see the day...~ The dog turned his back to face a smug Charl in his darkest guise , his eyes glaring back to have the pup to shame over his triumph. ~We see eye to eye. Apollon , you say? That is laughable! Oui! Then will you do any magic tricks before your, very last act?~

Isa bit her cheek and let her eyes shut. She did not want to see what the outcome would mean..he had stolen her freedom by ..oh! That dog was her only way to meet with Catalina before a war started!

~Free Isa, then we'll talk like gentleman should.~ The red haired mutt spoke in a darker tone, a threat was brewing as his body became consumed in fighting, spitting embers. ~A tantrum, little poochie? Am I to understand that you have any power here? You are making me!-

~Solarium...IGNITO INFINITI!~ The dog raised his red fists and fire cascaded towards the pampered knight gone to the dark side. ~Ahhh! You...you singed my best dress! How! You are powerless to stop !-

~Whoa! Keep your paws away!~ The shifter imp's voice broke from the form of young Charl. That made Isa realize what they were up against. Her powers swelled inside the goddess, as the daughter of the Egyptian nile state brought her ankh to materialize by her chest. It took the spell that Charl had cast over the heroes, and nullified it. ~Rise, Titans of earth! ~ She commanded with her palms aching . ~Drive this creature from the plane if your present day!~

Raven started to drop her powers onto the spot where Charl was standing. Torrents whished* past the brunette male's stunned face. "Wait!" He shouted, his eyes were still not as his counterpart's , though the g,fear..if he showed them his true eyes!-

"Booyah!" Cyborg shot his arm cannon as if first reawakening to the power he'd left dorment. "This dad is ready to kick your sorry can outta the way! " His lingo, still needed some work after having let the field handle crime without the Titans' best second runner up to guide the newest generation.

"Hey!" Zan fought to awaken with a blink of her dark eyes. She turned to a woozy Damian as the pieces fell back into place. "Right!" Her eyes lit up as she joined Raven and her prtner in the scuffle. The whimpering mutt now was apparently Marcus's mighty pooch .

Charl growled back and had his men retreat into a cloud of the noisiest smoke bomb. "Duck!" Gar alerted the heroes as his hawk for had to fan the swath of mist from sight. They did, yet by the time the heroes had lifted their eyes to the chaos, Charl had miraculously vanished . His posse as well as the staff was under the monstrous rebel's power.

/

However, the news had been that Isa's condition no longer remained as a prisoner to the wiley shifting reature. She fell to her knees, panting by the light's effects on her strength. "Ah! We ...won?" Gar landed beside Cy as Dick and Kori still had not awoken. Glen and Henry too were snoozing without a care. Greg groggily did open his wide eyes, though found that the fight was over upon that chance he had received. "Oh...my..." The sorcerer tried to rub his skull free from a psychic headache. "What ...was that ?" Damian asked then. His eyes looking behind bushes and trees before the dog's complex. "We were ...poof?" Zan was impressed that the person had been swift with his entrance AND departure in exactly ten to twenty minutes!

"Is everyone alright?" Kaien heard Raven ask the heroes , yet recalled another still dozing soundly. He barked his own reply to that. A certain partner had not yet gotten up to protest- yet Ronald's ears were sharp, too much too ignore the lug's command ..even if he tried to..

"Yoowch! I am not sleeping beauty, mate! " The New Zealander spit back with a fatigued expression upon his rise and shine routine. Kaien just sighed,yet Isa was winded more than her old comrade (and with Kaien or Solario, a bane to lady spirit and deity throughout history.)

"What happened to...one, two , three-

"Hah!" Gar slapped his forehead , shocked by a missing person in the group. "Ayane's not here!"

"You...must find...a way, or-

"Enough! Do us all a favor, an' come off it, Isa! " Kaien barreled himself into the discussion. His red hair blistering round his shoulders as porcupine bristles. "Why did you get caught by the enemy? That was too foolish an' yu know it!" Isa was uncomfortable, yet her eyes made it to bare down on Kaien first. Her heels clapped as she walked over. With one powerful hit, the goddess left the deity to catch the queen of the late nile's wrist. "I am not wrong her' . You put us all in danger. Now talk. Who was that fella'! And what is happenin' back in-

"Catalina, Solario..was voted...to be cast out of the faction.." Isa gulped and lowered her shaking fingers. She had almost smacked another of her kin. Well, so ungrateful after her infiltration had been discovered..yet she had been able to make a comeback and had the heroes here! In Japan!

"He just stood with his hot breath turning down to the street view. The dog was going to take out his rage...on an undying faction of cultists!

"Catalina...Lady Catherine..." Ron started to cool down the dog's rising temp. "Is she in London or Italy? Did they banish her, or is it just another conspiracy!" He could not hold it in. Sayumon had to know about this ruse, this disaster within the Daia faction's ranks. "She was in Rome , called to meet with the sacred council. I was there, with Hecate. Something occured and the underworld crone, left. " Isa said this as the fire hound sat the queen onto a bench by the cat's office complex. It had been convieniently added to have the staff rest at ease. Shoji was a handful it seemed.

"But..." Dick and Kori were still dozing , Raven had only to wonder with her teammates out of the action. "Hecate was..after Aiden , she could not have been in two places at once!" She knew why Isa had tailed the council spy. It dawned on her then.

"The culprit , the one spreading false rumors of Ilk and of the courts in both Celestial and Eternal sanctions, was a false Hecate,.and perhaps has the power of..."

"A shifter." Raven finished. ""Then a shape shifter did all of this, to have your allies!-

"We were powerless. " Isa said this with her heart aching for the truth. "I followed the deity to a place where my powers were kept under his watchful eye. " She explained. "The one responsible is consumed by vengence, it is...not easest to-

"Who, Isis?" Cy asked, breaking the goddess's concentration a moment. "It..was a very rude young man, a character which is hardest to recall the face of. Yet that was not what had me broken, it was something far more dangerous. I fear you must keep on your guard on a psychic level. "

"We have to know. " The child of Azar approached Isa with a frown. "What is his power over you?"

Isa lowered her eyes,then rose to frown by her actions having left the heroes with this anticipation..

She raised them to the crowd. Slowly she said something that at first sounded more of what was to be heard, never experienced for real. "It was a tome that can manifest illusions and distort reality. As if taking away..rewriting the present...the relic is known as the Book Of Manifesto . The book of manifestation, almost as powerful as the dragon's magic. And we cannot seem to stop it."

/

Cliff, climax,story set into motion. Ok! So our crews are split up on different worlds. Hathor is coming back to partner up with Amaterasu. The teen heroes are with the guardian few left, the new gen group, and both Henry and glen of the western spirit earth. Isa has revealed the reason as to how the council came to elect a new head of the Daia faction. As the word cult is assumed by Kaien, he has an admiration for Catalina by their history. He knew her parents and grandparents as the deity Apollo apparently before Solario had a rebirth into the 20th century. Now, Ayane is the only one wnooping around Takahara's office. Her instincts aside, what will Marcus think to do? The gang he hired to keep her quiet failed..Now, Isa knows the truth and must return to Rome after getting even with a boy she does not remember the name of- except the dangeous book of manifestation he weilds to avert anyone's attention.

How will Aiden and Ava make it back? And what about the Phoenixs fate? Ami is growing weaker and Aiden will end up losing his fire if his bif sister cannot bring him to the temple to heal. What will our heroes be after next...all to arise later in chapter four. The manifesto pages will commence! Stay tuned and read on to learn what secrets the faction holds...it's going to be one outcome of epic proportions.*


	5. Chapter 5

Teen Titans; New Generations; Part One; Storyteller Arc- The Manifesto Pages; Chapter 4: Partner up! Infiltration- Alliance of the Legendary Elemental Guardians of the Four Passages.

The four passages are guardian elemental directions, each by a separate entity that cannot co exist outside of its realm in which it governs or has in the past. The Phoenix, South, fire. (My own interpretation, not to be taken literally enough. ) North, the white wolf of the snowy front ( story arcs previous charcter. ( Earth who WAS Dragon Earth, and now his protector and pupil, Lady Raine of the faire folk governs the sector of the (Western Earth element.) Then lastly, the East is, or was, governed by a creature- a dragon of the air in Lori's time mentioned briefly in a flashback, think 'after Roku is kicked out of Gotham in "An Eternal" arc.'

This creature's pupil was Bao Shi's teacher, who, had Lady Bao outstaged as you will find in previous flashback arcs, as the dragon Raku turned to (Roku) by his contract as a daemon, overruled the decisin and won as the directional element. Thus, his reign was unjust and no one could return as a candidate once the deeed had been done . The dragon had driven the realm of the eastern stretch to cry out as the story in previous flashbacks went. Lilu's mission for her pupil Raku had been to gather insight from all directions, to convert and destroy the souls be absorbing or collecting them by their contracts signed. Demon stuff. No big secret there, with Lilith a force to be recconed by our heroes.

The Wood element originally was governed by Bao Shi's clan , though she took to holding two powers, both to prevent another collapse of her world's system...now, Amaterasu and Min or (Hathor - lion self) , are on their way to the summit of the Celestial class of gods, spirit, and elemental figures will test their coming. Sayumon did stay once her memory and sides were turned to that of a good councilwoman with an alibi. ( She's a fox spirit official. The two have to stay sharp for a certain imposter taking the form of anyone it wishes.)

Now, on to chapter four of the Manifesto pages!

/

Marcus Borgges was visited by two figures of his party, yet one had not belonged by her blue eyes and stunning physique. He leaned into a desk- Shoji's desk as it were?..She seemed to be smitten with the cat. He had seen the way they collectively acted on a regular basis. Practically born to be wed. Well, she was just not right for the job any longer. Marcus folded his hands under his chin , a curious child to Ayane as her eyes met his , both dangerously slits into the others' .

"Well, she must be a spy then, Non? " Charl wondered to his boss who, was making his motives less than crystal to the rebellious, shifter imp in 'man's skin.'

"Never believe a liar with a pretty face, sire. " The brunette nudged the assistant of Takahara's main branch to walk into the next to pitch- black room. All was kept in the dark, save for Marcus's new desk and a few extra seats for Shoji's old executives. The window was not exposing enough light to litter the room. Save for the stretch of bare carpet where the sun's evening rays did touch . Ayane gulped and did not oppose her abductor's wishes as he stepped out into the light of the room's center.

"She was the one who opposed me? " The boy...he was just a boy!" Ayane almost felt a bout of laughter explode right from her muffled throat and tongue. "Oh my! All of this time? Where is my employer? Takahara will have you taken to be tried by your actions against his very-

"Madamoiselle, You are to remain, still!" Charl gave a wrenching tug as the princess's vessel was flung to the carpet , her hair covering over her blue eye to catch a glimpse of this peculiar enemy.

"You try and try, and you'll never succeed once that cat is...dare I say it , Charl?"

"You have every right to belittle and berate our enemies, sire. Yet keep in mind that-

"Pish posh ! You know as well as I that she can do no harm while we have come this close...for you see!" Marcus arose from his seat with a glint in those silvery eyes. Greedy, a patron saint of desire among the material, things were for progress here to be made. If Ayana knew of this ,she was only a captive in their little game. Lori was not strong without first waiting to recover...Ayane was not psychically prepared to face this unimaginably young foe!

"Are you going to silence me yet?" Sakurano herself was nervous, frightened though true to her commitment as the vessel of a fallen queen of the spirit sector in Scotland. Past, present, it matteredno more . She was a part of this future and would play that part until the end.

"Going to be a willing sacrifice? Oh ...No..!. We are not here to kill off our...collection..you see." Marcus had his head tilt for a signal to be sent to Charl. ~Have her sent to that room right away.~

Ayane gasped by how in-sync these monsters were with one another. She sensed the danger and squirmed from the grip of her captor. Or at least, she had hoped to do this without-

A hooded figure in white,like a ghost came bounding through those doors by way of levitation. Magic...what was the plot to this tale turning into?

"Ah, dear comrade. " Charl bowed as if this mysterious visitor had a fsce and name unlike his own. Ayane scanned the room for a plan to come, anything to set she and Lorelai's spirit free...

The cowled figure finally lowered its white hood to have Ayane gasp back in disbelief.

"Lady, Agatha of Delphi...why are you ..how!?" She stuttered, leaving the figure now exposed in the closed room with more enemies to , explain herself .

"I was shunned from the sect. Did the deity Hecate of the ancients not tell you?" She chuckled by how this woman before her was no longer royalty by rite. Nor was she a favorite to some witch and prophetess.

"How, why are you trying to ruin us? " Ayane begged to know . Had some spell been cast over the girl and sorceress of the Faction of Delphi Agents? Was she forced to play a rol...

"I made it so that the breach was imminant. "

"No!" Ayane denied this confession. It was not true , she had seen the girl in the lab..she had saved Jump California!

"Why are you so delusional , my dear?" Marcus mocked her show of a damsel by stepping closer to Agatha. The secretary of Takahara corp's preseident eyed the dangerous monster , only growing more distraught as he placed a gloved hand onto Agatha's shoulder. "Agatha! You must figh-

"Aghhh!" Ayane fell to the floor by the shocking jolt of magic from the white haired priestess's palm. "I am not being forced to do anything. " She snarled before showing her true colours within a burst of light. "This was my intention all along, you idiotic sorceress !"

Ayane was flung back into the cat's desk. What a quaint position this tossed her into- literally! The enemy was among them all this time!

"Then , the faction ...they were after you!? "

The devilish character swapped her attire for a something in silver. Rolling her eyes, it was no shock , not as Agatha had not predicted of course. Her silver fox's eyes twinkled back to the woman by her feet- beging for an answer to some elaborate question. There was oy her denial that Ravenna could take the young priestess back- she was exiled , and for good reason too!

"Oh, you believed they had reasons behind hoping to capture a criminal? You were correct. I was on your side, for a little while. The story goes...Lady Ravenna did not return my affections, so I warped time and space to have her world turned to dust! I am the one to have allowed the fall of our ancient society! Ravenna has been reborn in a way, and I intend to punish her as she escaped me once! She'll continue to revive herself through time and space..Marcus you see, was my ressurected project. "

She sounded as if the villain had been there,all this time! Playing the Titans and guardians for fools! Wait! Then what of Cecilia? She had been ordered to keep...an...

"What are you planning to accomplish by taking Takahara's lab out? Answer me before I am sent to be !-

"What are you blathering on about! " Marcus laughed as Agatha felt her fists curl in annoyance. Ayane was still breathing heavily from the shock. "That room is the room of the true mastermind...we are just his pawns with the benefits to gain by reawakening such a timeless relic-

"The book, from when you had me bound and sent to the Yaku-

"They are only common thugs with a bone to pick with your , president. " Charl answered that question.

"Well, they were not a part of our original plans. Ming put her trust in thugs and outcasts to do HER bidding." Marcus cussed lighy under his breath. "Anywho! I want you to either join us, or we will feed you to the pages of our true saviour's jaws. His truth one cannot deny. Ever more cunning than a blithering succubi-

"I...have heard enough!" Lori's wrists cast ice everywhere with a snap back. The desks froze,Marcus had to dodge on as fast as a whizzing sharp of glass bulky bounced back. "Hah! Charl! Contain this captive! Have Manifesto's works reform this devil character ...into a true lady..."

"What!?" Agatha did not oppose. She just grinned and added to the chaos by having fog engluf the floor where Ayane scrambled to stand. "Ahhh! You are out of your mind! This is not right! Agathaaa!" She was too late as Charl in the form of his shifter imp counterpart had the princess out cold. The fog cleared with Sakurano on the carpet, out like a light.

 ** _"UraaaAaah...!"_** Marcus finally snapped , tossing Agatha from his side in a fit of frustration. "I...would not have brought you..if you had said that this plan was fullproof! This woman is an Eternal blessed! Have her fed to those firey pages before I lose the rest of my temper! CHARL!"

The shifter imp sent the princess through a portal, dropping her into the confined space with an expected plop.

"Oui?-

"Change back! That _voice..ugh!_ That ugliness makes me quiver so! It is a disgrace..you...are more than this filthy imp ! Change, dog! **Now!"** The imp was forced to comply by their contract. His brunette self was a charmer,.a riot from his boss would leave that bittertaste to linger..

"Pure blooded was your clan, of _course_ sire."

"Do not do that again for longer than need be." The bratty prince of souls such as Charl's returned to Shoji's thawing office seat. He tapped his gloved fingertips against the wood with his skull craled by the boy's other palm. The fog warmed the room by Agatha's powers. Tools-each and every figure in the room. Marcus was a horrible lackey for the book that had him freed, being finally able to break the cycle of those born by the red dragon's intervention. He had seen it. The dragon had left in his wake much confusion. A perfect cover for another to replace his days of tyranny...with something better.

"Report. Finding that debate successfully re- captured the dragon's undead bride, what say you to honoring a few more guests with our presence?..."

Agatha opened her mouth to interject, though shut it as soon as Marcus had spoken again. This deal was not forever. She would see to his tantrums, as Charl possibly dreamt of the same for far too long...

The Titans were filled with disdain by the episode. Ayane had not come out- and by the time they had finally been able to get the doors to unlock,a surprise had them thrown off completely.

"Wall..."

"W-What is this!?"

Anna prodded the concrete with her finger. It was an illusion- a forcefield to keep them out. "Wait, I can break it up. So , don't keep boppin' that stupid door or nothin'. " Grateful for Cyborg's genius tactical planning, the teams let the Titan's co- captain vet do his thing. "Almost...whoa!" A shock wave was evaded, though Cy saw the pannel melt right after the rest had sparked into a messy pile. "I would have been shut down..dang. Whoever put this thing together, he knew years ahead to start the project early."

"What do you mean?" Richard asked as Cy tried to explain with a swerve to meet his ex- leader's eyes. "They knew about future tech- stuff scientists and fields for security advancement software engineering ...they had us way too soon thinkin' this was still Shoji's -

"But it is, mate. " Ron rubbed his neck to say. " Cy raised a brow, though knew of Takahara's double life a Veravakumu. Time travel, was big on the cat's agenda. Like a duel black- marketeer for tech.

"He said the criminal underworld before." ( arcs ago!) Raven noted with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Why would dear friend Verra hide this information from his...this is not at all alright!" Kori frowned as her head buzzed with old questions brought again to light.

"What I would like ta' know. " Kaien examined the contraction before giving his part to the arguement. "Is why he never stuck ta you like glue- I mean. Ther' n' gun. Yer little kit was a foul flavor of the high arc Elemental line. Didn't the signs point ta it?"

"Yes and maybe. But we got used to it...was he really a criminal mastermind all this time!-

"Gar, don't jump to conclusions on this one. " Dick warned Changeling to not make heavy assumption before more evidence could be collected. "Cy, can you bring that panel with you to take a closer look at? You can show me a bit also. If Nightwing enjoys tearing those things apart as much as Robin did-

"Gotcha. " Cy okay'd the plan before they had to give up the chase. "I do apologize for the , well...your friend was in danger before you did seem to note. " Haru added on their way back to the fox's temple.

"Yeah, and I'm not sure-

"Wahh ! Dudes!" Gar cried out as his eyes had spotted the hillside temple, though not as they had wished to know it.

"Agh!" Kaede was breaking the arm of a thug from earlier..He had come back to bring the shrine to ruin. How unforgivable!

"Your evil writtings are desicrating the magical holiness of Amaterasu's sacred void! Criminal! Do not come back!"

The ears and tail of the fox elder sister had terrified the gang leader's lackeys into rushing down the path- stumbling as they hit their shins in a wave of panic. "Youkai! Demon! Ruun away!"

"Demon? I do not write symbols in cold blood ! Your lives will not rest ! Be prepared to face!-

"Sister!" Haru returned to see the shrine in pieces before her red gaze. "Th- They were !-

"No, come. " Haru crossly commanded of her trouble making twin. "But! You are not aware!-

"It was graffiti! This mess is far worse! What have you done!..." The roof was fallout over from the fox's attacks. The bell was off its cord, the wooden box to pieces with scattered donations from those kind enough to aide the women.

"No..it...was not-

"Raven saw something as her eyes wandered . She tugged Zan and Henry's wrists to seefor themselves. Just as Kaede had understood, the writings were a warning in another languag not of the Katakana or Hiragana usage.

"Ancient words." Henry saw it. "This was done by a being of our plane...dear gods..." Henry would have left himself to faint, had Glen not caught the warlock from doing such a thing in public.

"Our enemy wanted you to know what they felt...it says..." Greg came good and close to overshadow the weak willed youth in his attire.

"Behind the wall lies your demise. Do not return , for you shall lose the mask you carry within. ...Archetype? Persona?...How strange?"

"Was it a warning from those goons?" Anna asked as she tried to snoop about for any clues.

"Is Ami still inside!?" Amelia had not come back to herself, as Kaede had been left in charge. That had the team run to confirm their worst fears.

/

"I see that things were in chaos. " The being whom had Ami's head other lap,was a young maiden of the Edo period. Her hair was raven coloured and bold. Her flesh that of a geisha's pure white with a tinge of pink from the drying make up coming away from her dark eyes. The length of her royal attire was that of a kimono that took to seem the size of the entir room. As floating clouds encompassed this girl, she soothingly smoothed back tresses of fine, black hair from young Ami's face.

"Lady...Amaterasu-Hime!?" Both Haru and Kaede fell onto their knees in a low as could be pair of kowtows. Raven could not believe it and had to raise her hood up to prevent the light of the sun from zapping the Azarathian woman silly.

"I'll be ..." Kaien bowed while dragging Ronald to do the same.

Her passive gaze was calm, perhaps all knowing yet peaceful. "This team of soldiers, sorcerers, they have been waiting to know the truth. " She said this as if speaking to no one in particular. A simple , song bird voice , or a stream into the lands beyond time and space.

"Ami, has been with you?...And you...-

The goddess rose as Ami's head lay proportioned now on the deity's trailing, billowing raiment.

"She is safe. The temple was attacked, so I hid this room from the bandits' eyes. "

"Oh! We were able to send them with bruises, milady...yet the temple is destroyed!-

"Nay." Amaterasu argued with the distraught Kaede. "It can be rebuilt as before..A young life, cannot always."

She said this while turning to watch Ami's cozy expression. "We are safe , for now yet never until they should return. " The goddess added with a turn to Haru's nervous glances. "Yes, my lady ? " Haru wondered if they should think to relocate. "

"Our home and location has been compromised. " Haru came to the goddess's conclusion. A nod was all it took.

"What, what does this mean? Is Ami...why were those evil people here!?" Kori asked with her mothering eyes still drifting back to her youngest.

"I think that this place will be targeted again. " Dick and Cy both agreed with Ron's thoughts of future incidents .

"Where will you be able to go?" Greg wondered as Amaterasu remained unapproachable. "We must find lodgings to suit my dearest company." Amaterasu motioned her long arms towards the two foxes still kowtowing into the tatami structure of the floor.

" Who do we know in Tokyo?" Damian fibally spoke up after Zan had failed to keep him from starting a debate.

"We can always see about...aha..uh..not-

"Our generation then is not _this_ one. " Kori corrected.." Our troubles in Tokyo is ancient 'historical documentation.' We do not exist as Japan's heroes of that time any longer..."

"Maybe so, but we can try to see of the city's records are still alright in their book. " Dick reminded Raven to go into the matter with a cool head. Amaterasu's light was deeply draining on her mental state of being.

"While your teammate contacts the officials of yester- year, what will we have yet to accomplish in allowing those crooked daemon the pleasure of further harming Miss . Sakurano?" Henry's rich accent did not hide that this mission was indeed going to require a great amont of thought. The procedure had too seem like a break out- not in, in a way.

"We have to open that door, that way Ayane's secret will be out in the open-

"If she and Shoji intend to keep so many secrets, then why put the world's chaos into their hands!?" Ron sat in a cross legged stance with Haru eyeing how informal his posture was. In New Zealand, one could be considered 'free as a bird' perhaps to discard customary -

"Well, your company is all the more , our own. " Haru tried to have her thoughts to a pause- just in case Amaterasu was listening telepathically by their link.

"I detest criminal ...well, we might as well pull the wool over the guard's eyes first. Ron and I'll be glad ta get that warrent fer ya. Legal affairs-

"We are con- men and celebrities as much as Verra is to his world!" Ronald interrupted the smugness of his uncle's useless comment. The plan was built off of manipulating the minds of local law enforcement!

"We will not be given the title of hero, only to end up Tokyo's most wanted. I do not think this plan...You talk a bit! Cy-

"I could , but I need to find a lab ta' examine this dang device first. " Cy grumbled and took out the melted metal piece from a back pack they had picked up from a local department store on the way back. "It was easy to keep it hidden, but that weird message has me considerin' a plan B, Richie. "

"What says you, Changeling?" Glen suddenly raised a brow to Gar from his own seat - a wall's panel as the half- giant of frost and fae stood to lean against its sturdy bend and creaking face.

"Me?...Umm, I just wanna avoid any conflict like Cy said. " He replied curtly. "Besides with Brushogun like you guys may remember, I don't wanna be in the slammer for more than a day or two if we end up beng booked-

"Will we read many works when slammed in? That is a term I am not able to address well..."

"Kor, it's just prison lingo, um..language . Garfield is a bit...eh, he'd rather watch the classics if you guessed it like the rest of us-

"Cause originals came and drove people to think! Duh? Movements are monumental dudes and, erm, dudettes!-

"Wrong time to break the mould, which is why my idea is the simplest. " Kaede finally decided to lay down her law- without considering another's options just yet. "Use myself as the robber, you will just be getting permission to catch said 'burgler-

"What nonesense is this?" Haru's impatience was provoked by the idea. "You will become a tainted daemon no more with such ideals! Never! We will think of another way-

"Perhaps Kaede does not wish to live among that which she deems unworthy of her coming."

Kaede fell silent as Amaterasu spoke such jabs her follower's way. The deity fox gulped. "Why do you say such things..Hime! " She fell to her knees, hoping for a second chance more.

"Your life will be a sacrifice, yet we have many a way to tear away this lifeless illusion before us. Why not a disguise instead. Infiltration begins by the center point,the focal point of one's scheme must involve deception I think." A feathery fan appeared to mask the deity's lips as she draped it over her grin.

"Kaede is not business - material. We need an innate opportunity to open the floodgates wide. "

"She has a point. " Dick looked to Raven who had returned to bear good news alongside her comrades. "We have a scheduled meeting ...They will give us a chance to hand over as much information as possible. We can use their power to have that imposter loosen his grip." She sounded shaken, as if mentally the fight had been far greater to deem a success.

"Your power..is of other dimensions." Amaterasu knew of Ravenna's oath, though not of Isa's favorite Titan.

"Yes, I was raised on a planet called Azarath. " She did not hide this , not even from a sun goddess such as this one .

"Then you now are allowed into the circle of these truths. Little Ami had been careful to conceal as much... "

Amaterasu Hime stood slowly with her heavy more so than her ghostly figure. "The child is to become a candidate of the Sun's Retribution. The deity she may serve, will be as her powers develope further while under my watchful eye."

"Chosen..then, Ami's been here before? Why and when?" Greg was outraged as his hairs stood up on end- higher than Kori's blistering ones.

"She was training , Verravakumu himself was mostly-

"Whom may I then ask?... let on those ideas, to be placed in my comrade's head?!" Greg was fuming and up in arms as Grayson and Cy tried to stop the sorcerer from attacking a deity of that 'blazing ball of light all knew of - except those without a planetary solar system involved on their own planets.

"Yipper- snappin' twit! You asked fer it now!" Kaien rose to his beast dog form of a larger mass- cinders and spit fire in his wake. "The sect is Immortal and Celestial! You will not touch the child of our sister sect of the Sun's Retribution!- By Gaia's fits I will not allow a travesty to emerge while all're ya are under meee watch!"

The blast of fire was as gunpowder smoke. It backfired on poor Greg who fotrced himself to cough out the soot with a great wheeze. "What is it about your loyalty! Dog- pirate! You are no longer one of them!-

"That, be untrue." The dog fell to his feet and kowtowed as a saintly male with the robes of the Grecian sect. His voice even lessened by its gruff example as another emerged from the form- beast into a prince no longer crowned...

"You.. when did they return it? That role was discarded when you...you!" Gregory was unaware of how his charges , Titans and senior heroes, had little history to discern the fire mutt's identity by...Kaien was, never Kaien for the entire time they had known him. Was this why Verra had not been so keen originally on on uncle staying the night?

"Apollon's very sun." The princess of the eastern sun bowed softly,her robes never catching his seering light. "Nay, you are he , undying." Her eyes smiled back without a grin to her features physically. She just knew. "I do wish to ask just why you have returned to, that form you carry." She wondered, not hoping to know the answer right away.

He rose, slowly as his garb stayed a shimmer of gold to off white by the deity's shoulders. "Hecate had always known, so I tagged along. The form of Kaien was merged from a deity spirit that I had tamed, rather, we had merged upon that past with the red dragon's son. I return here to bare this sacrifice, my loyalty hath always been for the sect of Daia,the line of the Imperial Sun."

"Then, you were a lowly spy to them, to watch over the heroes' actions." Glen put that together quickly as Henry snarled back. "You..were going to steal away the young Aiden and his siblings! You are not a friend to any folk of either plane! Aha! That would by all means indicate that YOU allowed Hecate the day she had admitted to wishing for!"

Ann whispered to Glen with a sharp nudge of her elbow. "Does he always try to act like a Victorian -age oddity? Sherlock or not, your buddy..is being too dramatic.." Glen shrugged and whispered in reply. "His habit as a rabbit is that he builds up enough nervous energy..to , well..to ellaborate till kingdom come. Let him blow off some steam fer now.."

"She invited herself, I have not the power to open as many voids as she. The walls f space and time did weaken however, which she must have anticipated most easily..."

"I don't have to add." Raven brought her two cents back once Ami had dozed off again by Haru this time. "That if we trust deity, we will be convicted of causing them to lose their ways. It is a law between you 'Immortals' that of we intervene, they will see this as manipulation or treason. You would be best to not work hile we are in the room."

"If it keeps the fires burnin' low, I think you should keep that promise and not run into us whilst we work." Ron decided that as a lower rank than Kaien's own dog self, his mutt nature could take siding with the heroic Titans. The gods were misers when it came to info dealing. Very unprofessional.

"But.. Amaterasu hime!" Haru nearly had to bring herself to lower her voice with Ami fast asleep on her knee. "We..we must not be apart! " She said. "That idea of separating while working together...it is not sensible to-

"You will stay beside my young candidate and not let any harm befall your new comrades. " Amaterasu was certain that she would still require a perfectbody guard..

"Though, Kaede will thirst for my sake. She will be accompanying we deity and daemon instead of the two sisters. " She had specifically pointed to both Haru and Kaede. They would be apart...how heart breaking for young Haru..she did not trust Kaede's abilities well enough- she was reckless and too brash . An actress, not an entertainer...(Acting or mimicry for the purpose of a gain or something without much work placed into it physically. Entertainers are more disciplined for the sake of their safety I, think this should dictate the circus acrobats v.s the movie star who does not do her own stunts. Each has a time and place here. Haru thinks that Kaede is being fooled into sacrificing her safety for Amaterasu's security without thinking the rest over.)

"We should not decide so suddenly, princess! I beg of you to reconsider !.."

"Would you oppose me so quickly, Sister Haru? " Kaede stood with her silvery tail swishing, while her doubtful eyes and arms both crossed, had Haru lower her head . "No, I would only do so if danger should befall these plans...yet-

"You said that your word meant, nothing until then. " Kaede sniffed and walked closer to her dear princess of the rising sun. "I will not let Amterasu hime perish, my life is her's as we have beern born to serve since the very beginning. " Haru was left with a miserable glance, her sister turning right befoed their very eyes...

"I shall say not another word..do as you wish."

Ami did not waken until Apollo( formerly for the moment or to return until later, Kaien ), Amaterasu Hime, Kaede, and no one other the suspected to join, left.

/

The temple roof creaked as Haru hid her tears while her large white ears dropped miserably down . "I...should have not imposed my will onto my sister's life...she was never against Amaterasu..not this way! She was bitter for having been abandoned by our patron deity mother..."

"Why not try to talk to her? " Ami did not understand openly the politics involved. She perhaps claimed to know as much,though the rest seemed rediculous to her .

"I still think she's trying something." Damian wondered if this was not against them, but to spite Amaterasu or as ...

"Guys!-

"Found it. " Cy interrupted as Dami held his tongue. His theories would have to wait.

"Turns out that Aria is right here in Tokyo, but her name's not under the record label..." Raven's eyes squinted to see into the web's directory of his unit's data scan. (Made up, like a super compute on the go. Future much?)

"Is she...she is running a label ! As its ceo!?" Gar gasped and tried to not faint as his gimmick. It was old fashioned,though a classic act.

"Secondarily, I think I found the head ABOVE Aria. " The team leaned in.

"Oh, wow."

"Cecilia. Daia ."

"How? She was _below_ Aria ! What did she do? Replace the real-

"No , Changeling. " Dick rubbed his chin and read the information from a distance.

"She took over months ago. " The team was purely blank fafed by hw a duchess such as Catherine Daia's heiress had ...made ger way up a different set of ladders.

"We had better check it out. Maybe she's tryin' to contact us. Sirens go where the travellers are. "

"Harpy, _not_ a siren." Raven reminded Cyborg.

"Well, whatever that could mean..Titans! We have a schedualed bullet-train to catch."

/

Cutting it shorter- much too long( too much so I will gladly clear up the plot thus far!)

Haru is the younger sister, so she really has next to no say in how Kaede's life should be run- Kaede is the eldest after all . Amaterasu intends to make an outsider her candidate for the seat of vassal. Just as Aluehainyu or Piper, Ami would have to give up her average life to serve a powerfl sect of daemon and deity , just to stay afloat for the rest of her life. Horus is not pushing for Aiden to replace him, rather, he only wants Aiden as a guardian of the Dragon of the golden dawn's power. Hecate finds that against all the deity stand for and had taken action to prevent more distasters from flowing right into the courts without her knowing.

Raven says that any outsider that decides to band together with guardians or deity, will pay a heavy price by their archaic law and order. Tainted spirit or deity become fallen or in most recent terms- soul stealers at the very last tier. If the deity's foxes Haru or Kaede turns as Kaede is subject to becoming a youkai in her state, then the card will be drawn , and the Titans will be left to defend their earth again. ( These new years part one and two with Sayumon's arrival to their plane. Not a pretty picture.)

Hathor and another deity are working together. Bao Shi has to keep up with the times, and Amaterasu has the deity of Egypt on speed dial.

Isa in trying her best to get involved in order to free Verra and Kayu from the court's trials. She and her elder allies are not giving in to the new sect's ploy - and the one spy leading them as puppets in disguise. Charl is actually a shifter imp with the guise of a knight's son. A noble lord's average bisi- offspring if you will. He had brown ,wavy hair in a pont tail. His eyes are a striking green and his clothing the gaudy fashion of his royal 'time line.'

We will see how his effect over Marcus might be a little too close for comfort. Lao Ming is a dictator in the shadows withtails for whips..She had the Bakeneko appearance of her old world down with the tragic backstory to prove how bad of an assassin she can be. (Bad is good I mean. In her respected role.)

Lao Ming has single handedly petrified the Yakuza group of down town Shinjuku without breaking a nail in the process. Will the stars be in her favor in catching her prey runnaways?

Ron and poor Greg are the only guardiand remaining while their comrades are in the Celestial big house.

Marcus's history was given a longer title by a book ,and that book apparently is the center of much controversy. The pages of Manifesto..what is the deity Isa scared still over that she had to run after her comrades to find? Why is she not in the current chapter? Find out what our heroes are up to next,in chapter 5! Read on and stay curious!


	6. Chapter 6

Teen Titans; New Generations; Storyteller Arc- The Manifesto Pages- Part One; Chapter 5: Infiltration Domination- Separation of the Guardians of the Four Passages- Swept Away by a Green Eyed Knight.

/

So, so long, yet here we are! Chapter five now continues!

The Titans' long wait was unlikely to range from weeks to months- just to meet their old allies on Japanese soil. Their "trouble in tokyo" episode had allowed the heroes to contnue with negotiations- being foreigners still, that meant following the rules.

The shock of knowing that guardians with foreign blood had also made their stay in Japan for months now, had Dick suspicious as to how long this charade of the spirit worlders' would continue. Aiden was forced off into another world with a ruthless goddess calling the shots. Ava had gone along during their chat as ; a big sister and as well as one estranged daughter, to the Grayson household ( and snowy barrens.)

She had explained that she would free Aiden, his life being limited by the snow - white tundra of the goddess's mapped out range. Lady deity of the meddeiterrain ' Hecate' lived in an underworld closer to that of Lady Hel's, rather than be with closed borders. However, Hecate had lee way with the folk of Ava's world of the northern, Snowy Barrens. She intended to put the girl in her place, just as Aluehainyu had attempted before becoming an ally to the Titans.

Aria's patch of grass on that other side , within the walls of Japan's largest city, sent flags off immediately for the heroes to take notice. The studio was a skyscraper. Greg claimed he had ben to a copy of one in England. She had possibly warped time to make this illusion a possible reality. Also, the dream wizard and scholar Dreamwake's pupil had become an agent for one- Lisa Viscado. She was not touring Japan this year, so Piper took to adjusting herself for a second group that had come to stand by the doors for an audition. Cliff and Esme were the contenders?

Onto chapter ...! ~

/

 _"Esmeralda!_ "

How Ron bopped his skull by the shock! Raven watched as the three came together, Cliff bringing his older cousin into a ferocious bear hug. Esmeralda and Clifford were both citizens of Portugal by birth. Their true identities were as guardian elementals and as reincarnated gods of ancient times. The god of wine, merry making and leisure did also have roots in more than only ancient Greece.

Aphrodite was to Esmeralda ; her colour hair of Aria's shade changed to pink, only when she sang in front of a large audience or had her powerful elemental at full strength during a fight. At that time, she grew the wings of a cherub or not yet, fully ledged Seraph. She was a perfect example to Cliff, though the heroes of earth were nearly tending over backwards trying to discover the reason 'why.' The two guardian siblings however were together as siblings, through thick and thin. Cliff even had a complex somewhat and protected his dear sister from men's leering gazes. Verra was Esme's favorite , which meant thatAria had competition when it came to doting relatives.

"What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Greg asked as he joined in with more questions for the talented duo.

"We are in the middle of something to help you." Esme brought a finger to her lips- this must have been quite a secret.

"Yah don't say now? Well, most security cameras have the ability ta' pick up sound and identify by a heat sensor now a' days. " Cy pointed out as the security cameras' eyes looked back with glassy facets.

Cliff blushed and said nothing more for that time. "Ohho! We were fooled, I see!" Yet Esmeralda was not deterred. She decided to go through with the event, even if their faces were nothing new, or they were sent back empty handed.. Wait a second-

 _"Presto!"_ Esme used her magical abilities of a nereid to change her face and her eyes to a different look and shade. Cliff did the same by touching the concreate until his hair was pitck black and straight.

 **"How?"**

Esme giggled with her pink mane and lighter tone. "Here, we still have earthen rites. Cliff may inhibit the dirt below your feet. I take to the water vapors and to the air you breathe. I am a sky light of dazzling rays! He is mortal on two legs."

"Huh?" Gar truely wished to know just what the youthful Esme had meant. She was mysterious as her relative Aria.

"Never now, mind her..she's eccentric." Cliff said this with his face bearimg anticipation if they lost to the judges.

"We are going to wipe that smug look off of Aria's face. Comprende?"

"Crystal." Raven okayed the event.

 _"Si,_ you mean?" Anna looked up to Zan as she shrugged back. It was a quirk when working with the friendliest of foxes.

/

Cliff gave a smart grin and walked to the doorways of a sharp image of many different names to the industry. One was Ready Steady- two years ago before Lisa had flewn solo for a bit. Aiden would have died to come here.

The desk up front was much larger for more than one event scheduled that day. A slew of others waiting to have a break into the industry, were seated as the call continued for a few turns. ~We are going to keep the system sound for now.~ Cliff nudged Raven to say through the mind- spoken language of the spirit worlders' . Sort of an alternative telepathy with more perks.

~Why only talk to me? I was only escaping -

~Yes, and we met then. ~ Cliff added with Raven's blush slowly creeping back up to bite her.

~You were disguised as a human then, but you never told me..that this would...well,we were only able to meet for so long while I was running from Trigon.~

Raven remembered how many portals, how many trips through time and space that year had taken her. The JLA had even tried to capture Raven by her odd features and dark powers. She later held a deep misunderstanding of Batman,thanks to Robin's own traumas . She had seen a good deal of his past- right before the reagent had left her leader a wreck. (Haunted. Die hard fans get this. )

"If you are trying something now, it won't work. And , fyi...your sister is glaring at us?..." Raven stopped and saw with Cliff embers dancing psychically about the room. The corner of it , there sat a steaming Esme with her brows knotted together. Cliff hid eyes by picking up a magazine on the side table. The same moment, Raven dodged the diva- mini's stares by bowing her head and raising her hood up to its proper position.

"Later, maybe.." Rae looked back on that mistaken fairy tale ending with her prince- Malchior was dust to the wind. Never coming back...a true gentleman with an honerably unbearable two- faced attitude. None could be trusted. Love was too risky as far as fighting evil doers was concerned...

"Oh! Did You..." Zatana was hushed by Anna as herf aloof nature did not amuse the still annoyed Esme. "My brother is not able to keep his hands _still..pig!"_ She hissed as the green haired frat- boy hid hid head further into the pages of 'Shape Up Magazine!' (Metaphore for those who still think chivalry is a bit old school- Some might disagree, but Esme knows her poor brother is in for a heaping helping of trouble once their adventure is over and done!)

"He is ...kind of cute around Rae though?" Gar whispered to Cy as the elder Titan hushed* his teammate from starting rumors.

"Not any of anybody's' business, lil man. You should just pick up a magazine ta' pass the time." Cy had a subscription of 'Runner's Digest.' Gar saw the joke in this, but kept it to himself until muuch later. What a gag! (He basically wants to dash as far away from the drama as he can, before he gets trampled by the weight of Esme's bad mood. Runners? Running away? Get it?)

"Kori? Any news from Isa on that line?"

Cy asked as the Tameranean mama shook her head, the comm unit silent in her breast pocket..The top she wore was a winter knit sweater. The skirt was long and her boots well above her knees. They had changed only hours ago before makimg it to the building. (When the infiltration of Shoji's branch went sour, the Titans..went shopping for a chance to blend in with the locals!)

Dick wore a black turtleneck- that was an in thing to wear according to the magazine in Zatara's hands. 'Fashion Weekly Mag ' was...a bit eccentric with the alligators alive by the feet of the one hit -

"Oh..."

 _"Great scott!"_ Henry burst out saying as Glen felt his eyes nearly fly out of his sockets.

"How?.." The artist, was a very, very attractive -

"Next auditioning! Anyone ...Grayson?"

It was not the magazine that had the Titans shout to their scout, it was not the same figure as the paper cover of a tabloid news heading- it was Piper in the doorway!

/

"Mama _mia!"_ Gar almost was unable to hold back a rant by the sheer luck- Piper's brows narrowed as her hand ushered in the team.

"You're up.." Were her only other words of encourangement.

"So..." Zan bit her lip with Piper glowerimg back, her new position by far not the most of her career choices.

"Why are you trying to pass off as 'talented' per se? " She had her seat and stuck to it , glued into the swivel chair as the heroes lined up against the back drop of a boring, grey wall.

"Um, we are on your side." Anna looked into Piper's eyes and saw that impatience swirling inside the very vortex that was the mage's hardened stare.

"I was temporarily asked by Lady Aria, to forsee to this event. "

Her english was proper as her background confirmed all else. Piper was of European descent like Alue, originally in her Eternal reality. Though she and Al had origins that predated their current ones. Reincarnated from the time possibly of Reia's death. If the two had been wandering through Russia as outcasts and orphaned souls,then Dreamwake had been right to have scooped up his protege - her stern, librarian nature was something out of a novel.

Here, she was just a foreign advisor if need be the case . To the spirit, she was still not yet worthy of her real title.

"What of Lady Catalina?" Ronald asked, still intent on discovering the reason for the mistress Daia's disappearance.

"She, is still being treated as a traitor...I've said too much! Stop this charade and tell me just why you have come-

"As a matter of fact." Anna stood up to Piper with a rolled strip of paper in her grip. Sweating, this Eternal being had an aura that worried Raven the most. Piper, only sided with the winning team- whether that be her choice or not.

"Question one; did your agency promote the star on this cover, Aggie-G ? (Joke on Jessie J instead now?) We know that face and I want to know what you know! Astarte taught me how to drive my odds out, how to let limitations dissolve when even those same odds were zero to one none! So tell me here, is she your little princess made by some, cheapo money- bags? Huh?"

"How rude you are, little flicker- light...alright." Piper sighed as if her wall of solitude coud no longer function.

"That idol, was made over a course of a single amount- 6 months..She is a true rise to fame, and even brought Cecilia to act and come out of her hiatus overnight! I swear to you however- she is this industry's competition! Alyssa is our rising star , Ready Steady , Big Fourth, Fellowship, Mynus-21, Winding Halo! We are more for the muses than anything, but that...tricky beast ! I know what you wish to ask, I'll, gladly keep this a secret."

Piper's smile was devious though true to her word. The shade of a tinted room kept all matter of sound, secrets safe within the room. She interlaced her slender book- binder's fingers against the metal desk top. "Aria is out of reach. She left, to fly to Catherine on a whim only weeks prior to this news. She returned unharmed of course, yet Catalina was never located- and we of this very branch have not heard word from our executive in two, whole weeks-

"Good gods!" Henry shook his head, miserable for perhaps the same reason the others hung their heads. Though the last part sounded like a complaint from Piper over her job..hard to say..

"Lady Cecilia was her sucessor." Ron added this as Piper then continued.

 **"Was,** was once still trying to save us from that rat I trust no more than before.." Piper turned her eyes away as if to navigate her own thoughts. "Cecilia sold out, her company, her mother's name..yet the strangest thing would be most of all, her affiliation with a new diva! How could that back- stabbing brat betray us! "

Piper fell apart as her arms felt as rubber against the solid wooden desktop. "We want your guardians on stand by. Whatever is occuring on Earth, must certainly be the wok of an imposter of our own plane -

"I think that mystery can certainly be-

 **"Jeeepers!"** Gar saw as Ami paid no kind in crashing their meeting. Haru and her young charge were both waking up in a way to this setting, Ami had been dozing off from her mental drain earlier. Ann had to grip her fists tight to not want to sock her younger, twerpy sister.

"Oh..ok..bad time for a line gag-

"Yes!" Gar , Haru, Anna, and possibly a disturbed Piper said this in unison aloud. "Sorry!" The girl rolled her eyes as her temperment was managed by Dick this time.

"But! I think I know what's what in this ex- machina mayem- ery!" Ami exclaimed over her father's tall shoulders. "If we narrowed didn't that the shifter- guy is able to change into anybody...then wouldn't he be-

"Shifter...that brunette , _pretty boy!"_ Cliff shouted over Raven's side, her ears still in need of a detocx from. the box they were in. Her nerves were far past saving..

"Was he after the heroes? Ronald? What do **YOU** know about this?" Piper let a lazy eye his way as the cat's companion had no need to hold back.

"He was preventing us from entering Takahara Corp's main branch in Shinjuku. I swear , we lost Ayane after she was led inside by the monster's tricks!" His eyes turned yellow as lightening shards.

"I see, your girl there has either a quick tongue or a sharper wit than her father and mother.." Piper seemed to muse or reflect on her past meeting with the original vessel of Rokuro.

"I am speaking for everyone, not trying to cover my tracks." Ann crossed her arms and sat back into a seat that would have been reserved for the person auditioning to become the 'next pop- sensation.'

"I say this not to be cruel to you, yet we have valuable time to plan our attack- if only neither of your parties nor my own argues to- day. Not when auditions into the next room, will take place therein, soon after your discussion is withdrawn - or if you prefer, as unfinished.."

"We know you are swamped with work..and just want to know who can contact someone closest to the Daia family." Richard asked this of Piper while she stood on top of them all. Looking back, the sorceress scribe had little to think over in her own head. "Aria will have you shortly, one moment if you please." She brought up a hand as her cell magical appeared from the adult's side coat pocket.

"Yes, Miss Grotto? Aha, well your fame changes as the seasons do..oh! Yes, in this sense..we have visitors just as they were expected to be here- No, no! I did not...Tamper? Oh...yes, that was me..heh..yes, alright?..Ok!"

Her expession dampened as the phone was placed squarely back into its compartment. Piper turned to the heroes with her voice rather grounded against the grey back-drop. "We are to meet Aria in a while , my deepest regrets for this being an odd time of the day to ...well." Piper rolled her eyes then wrenched herself out of the desk's office chair, with a loud click of the wheels that had kept her seated.

"Huh, the wheel is jammed..had better call in a custodian to see to the damange later." She now sounded as if her time had been called to a screeching halt- a deity's last hurrah on their way to the gallows?..

"Follow, just don't get me into any more of your messes, or one mess is enough to clean. " Piper acted this way the heroes found, to fool anything outside of their realm from listening in. The cameras were not all esper- proofed to avoid an invasion of the mind and spirit.

/

In the building, there was one set of elevators that led the team up to the highest floor that could ever be. In fact, Piper seemed to shockingly blush red whenever the elevator allowed a beam of sunlight to pass through the glass. The time that it had taken, had seemed mostly like a warp into space- time. Raven's theory it seemed , had not been checked thrice to the Titans' dismay.

"Oh, my.."

"Golly gods!" Henry had stopped Gar's quip as his thunder was much louder than the elder Titan's .

Raven had been right on all levels of the term 'time and space travel.'

"Mistress _Aria!"_ Piper exclaimed by her voice now threatening to tear down the goddess's glitering, sun drenched walls of the siren's own home. "Time..travel..not! You are forbidden from this delay! Your mother will have a sure fit up in the heavens ! Do you not hear !? The rift could-

"I made sure as well to place a curtain over those whom might , dare to _peek._ No peeping toms, you are just tired! Ah! _**Titans!"**_ Aria was lounging as lavishly as a Grecian Goddess in the home of one Mount Olympus. Her seats were formed by tides swirling and rain dashed , hovering clouds. The golden sun was of a different season. She was of the southern passages so that meant that winter probably chilled this daemon to the bare bone.

"My villa is far from this shack you call a social 'work environment.' " The princess in her whites and cerulean blinked up to one she had not seen in a good decade. Her eyes narrowed, as the mistress slowly leaned across her otoman of clouds to see the nereid sister , eye to eye.

"Lovely are you, little _cherub!"_ The haughty miss saw as her sister turned rse red by the excitement. "Well! I do not lie in bed all day as mother never taught us of this laziness in all of our lives!" Esme was the target, which had Cliff all ears by what was to come next.

"I lie to no one , not _really.."_ Aria looked at her sharp nails from a day at the spa. Humans were as greedy as she, if not needier.

"You seem to be in a hurry, dear sister-

"I am half of _our_ father's blood, twice separated." Esme spat. Her contempt was clear, by the way her eyes had lost their glisten of the mightiest coves known only in fairytales. (Lagoons.)

"We still retain that blood as thin as water...remain...humm..well! You have come to understand why Cecilia has found, a new calling. This is a lie and I shall be honest while none have yet discovered the reason. "

Aria arose from her cloud bed and spoke . "Catalina was kidnapped. Cecilia was...threatened, as were her memories, well..I think another whom has the power of transformation can answer only THAT question."

"The shifter guy, the pretty boy at -

"We are _very_ able to recall that figure." Esme said this in a voice fully warped by her angst. "That character we fought, yet Isis was almost!-

"She is safe! The gods are going to erase anything that may have corrupted the goddess." Cliff warned Esme to calm her powers. To take hold of her hatred for her half sister.

"Thank gods for that then. We have work to be done- **Piper!** " Aria was up from her seat and dressed in the garb of her unearthen attire. It fluttered about as any fantasy model of stage could display their only presence. Her hair was slightly darker and wavier than Esmeralda's aqua mane. Her shoes were heels only for the wrong season as with this world.

"My advice, don't go to far into the lion's den. Shoji is under oath to debate , yet his karma won't catch up to those old foegies too soon. " Aria's words reminded Richard of the last few that Verra had spoken before all of his forms had been whisked away- save for the cat Ami occasionally claimed to see..(Ami can probably sense Vee by her ability as a miko in training. )

"The only advice that I may give is to leave Japan until you do locate that witch." Aria still had her moments with the Daia family. After all, their reckless behaviour had left Lori and Rokuro to be devoured by...her heart still broke when ever those memories did return, only to harden her beating chest shut from the cold reminder. She was no better than those daemon.

"But we _just_ made it! What about Ami and the foxes?" Gar hardly had forgotten them. The heroes' eyes drifted towards their youngest 'matter of company.'

"I can have you guys split! Ann, Zan, Gar , Henry and Dami will be my company with Haru! Pretty please!" She begged this with her hands clasped together..Aria raised a brow yet Richard understood that meant that his youngest team members would stay away from further danger. Although,the character known as 'the shifter pretty boy' made the cop wary- no! He had to put his foot down!

"I will allow that . Only if we have someone with Gar who knows the area."

"No need! Haru is smart as a fox!" Ami tried to not use sly to contradict the kitsune's wit. "I...where children stay? Our temple is not yet repaired while the criminals may return-

"Stay in Shoji's pent. " Aria heard Piper speak. "Why there?" Aria's advice was much better in her mind, yet that did mean something of an awkward situation for the children. _"Never!_ What a disgrace! Money is no issue to me! Piper! A proper setting...the children shall stay with you!"

"What? I don't have that sort of room in my -

"I'll do the rest..leave it all to _yours'_ truely!" Aria seemed to bow a bit as if this were her greatest charity work. "I'll stay at Shoji's so-

"I _insist...!"_ Aria's nature as a coddler made others wonder why she was more a nuisance than Uncle Kaien. Like father like daughter!

Anna backed off and did not refuse the siren's offer asecond time. Not with her ticking time bomb atittude!

"Thanks..."Piper looked worn out. She had to put up with the drama queen of queens since her rank up as a reccord keep of the Eternal lands! What a way to go..

/

Back in the land of sunless days...

"Hecate had made her home in the ground, so we have to be smarter. " Ava collected her poor , frozen brother and had the castle's cook whip up a piping bowl as soon as the doors had swung open - all upon the princess's return.( Her title is still not very influencial though respected, so her princess title (description) might be in lower case letters unless otherwise noted.)

"Sit up, Aiden." Ava nudged her brother to stay upright as his slouching form only depressed the princess of the Eternal Barrens. "Here, drink." The silvery haired nineteen year old knew that seeing the phoenix would be impossible for her, yet someone else had to do what she could not. If Ava could only be granted the ability...to not melt under pressure.

Aiden coughed as Ava rubbed her brother's back (less than soothingly), to try harder to clear his lungs from the frosty air. "It is warm now, please...this is my home. You won't be able to go back to earth if...drink." She gave up with a sigh and had her brother clutch the broth as if it would splatyer all over his neck. "I'm..cough! cough!* ...ugh...did we ma-

"Just, call someone with that bell." Ava motioned to and pointed to a brass bell by the teen's bedside , her eyes placid as cool streams that had yet to thaw. "I'll come back when you do." The door shut with less care than he had expected there to be. Ava was exhausted. She had carried her brother through worse, yet that blizzard was nothing special.

Aiden swept back his moppy do with a weary arm. His eyes were bleary as if the cold had nearly...

"We never made the trip..she took me back to the...urgh!" Aiden grunted in his desperation as he realized it too soon. "We..missed the mountain..and I did hold her back...this so blows!" The bpy whined as his elder siater went to meet with an old ally . Tellervo had stayed in touch and came as soon as the news had quickly spread.

~Princess- (Respected in upper case by ally.)

~Here , I am as any guardian.~ Ava stopped the deity of their sister sect with a pause. Her eyes were pained by something. Tellervo lowered her voice and had some idea by the rumors the spirit spoke.

~Your brother, the chosen made the journey...~ Tellervo's elven ears could hear a great deal from ger side of the valley. "Yes, and he almost fell sick with ...I'm taking xare of everthing." Ava reassured the deity woman with a nod. The forest goddess frowned, thinking that this royalwas in over her head with the task she had now to bear.

~He is resting in the upper most tower, I have maids there doing their best...I called you, since your healing magic-

~Not as to what the birds did state.~Tellervo chuckled by the fact that Ava was still dependent on her neighbors and allies. Such a stubbon princess. Reia was also a proud and solitary ruler of the age- old Snowy Barrens. Wolves or Ravens, the girl had to learn when to let down her walls to save a single life.

~ You..don't mind ?~ Ava was surprised that Tellervo had been unaware- the crows..what tricks! They must have said something to confuse the forest deity on purpose!

~The crows also did say you had hoped to grow as a rulerf, so my own aide might just benefit this event as well.~

~Thank you..~ Ava started to bow, though Tellervo stopped the unofficial princess this time.

~I was supposed to stay away, now I am glad for you to be this honest. Where is your sibling? We shall go to him right away!~

Ava smiled and turmed on her heels of silver and shivering winters , her heart aflight for one moment only. ~This way! He will be glad to know that you have fared well since the strix's demise.~

/

Aiden was not the only one resting. Verra had not gotten this much shut eye since before the kids had been born! And when Roku had been awol for a few years. Magical, really..

Kay was not ok with the problem that the imposter had caused within the Celestials' domain. The Eternal had possibly already been corrupted!

 _~Cous!~_ Kayumon awoke before Vee to keep watch , the prison not being as secure with that ominous 'shifter' on the prowl.

~Hey! Wake it up!~ Vee was shoved roughly by his light eyed cousin. The adult form of Kay had returned to seem almost 19 years of age. Verra shook off his ...what?

~Body.? Vee! Where did that aspect- _Dang_ **it!~** Verra was Veravakumu yet the same age in fact. Even so , he looked seventeen compared to his perfect , pretty boy cousin. **_~Heeey!~_** Kay shushed the panicked V before any guards could find them.

~But..this isn't magic! Its a _curse!_ **Fix** this ! I'm gonna go off the deep end if you council bozos don'-

 _~Hush_ ! You are not extending that sentence!~ The light haired Kay bopped his cousin on the noggin. He looked so juvenile with his clothing barely staying on the guardian's shoulders. ~I want my age baack!~ The ebony haired youth bawled, only to get to the point where-

~Vee! Don't cry! Cripes! You ARE _**SHRINKIING!~**_ Kayumon felt it as well. They were now ages sixteen and fourteen. What was going on!

~We..this room..it's draining our energies , fast!~ The kitsune son plopped his arm over the younger's mouth. The younger fox did not enjoy being silenced, so he took to the offense . Kay, was more so a chew toy to this dumb doggie.

 _~Owch!_ I'm no dino bone - a - saurus! You have to break us out! The spell is created by this prison!~ Kay tried to summon his staff, tbough found that it had shrunken as well. He was now fifteen.

 _~Vee!~_ Kayu turned and saw to his dismay that Verra had summoned the dark wolf of Verra's darker aspects.

 **~No!** You cannot control that!-

The animal rioted until it had begun to morph into what Kay had to duck well away from.

~Dragon! That's **not** alright! Put it away! _**Owcaaah!~**_ The glass was splintering, the forcefield breaking. Kay rushed to protect ten year old Veravakumu from the dragon's size and it not being...big..enough!

~Down! _**NOW!~**_ He had Veravakumu and they hurled themselves from the crash. The rest of the room was now the dragon's territory until V had his powers back under lock and key...god! He looked just like Richard Noburo with that long hair! His eyes were brown however, so that was a relief...

~Ok, cousin.~ Kay set V away from the mess and wrecking ball lizard to talk calmly to the child...Ugh...this was..insanity!

~It is time to make the dragon say good bye,ok?~The cute speak that Kay had to put up with...he was speaking like a teacher to an even younger pupil! His mother had never even spoken that way!

~Bye, bye?~ The young Veravakumu looked up with the eyes of a six year old, it wasn't working. ~Yes, he is not _supposed_ to be here. He does not fit in this, room..so you have to ask him to go.~

~Away..but..he..he...he was..just tr-

~He has done enough. You have to come back too. Otherwise, our friends will miss Vee. Ok?~

The youth nodded. He always was a good kid. Kind of funny, Kay had only been a few years apart. Well, whatever the case. ~Cousin Kayu- man?~

~Huh? Oh! Yes, Veravakumu?~

~I want Vee to take over now!~

The boy was now the fox hybrid as the dragon returned in to form of dark energy to rest within the youth's very spirit. The adult..Vee...well-

~Was that insane, or are we in the illusion realm? Huh? Talk to me like a damn todd again, and you'll be stuck as that fur ball for a decade longer! So, _embarressing!~_ Vee shook as if a ghost had run past the kit.

Kay laughed, he had to leave this place with a motor mouth. That , the Celestial could handle. ~Ah! Glad to have you on board! That younger you was ...making puppy eyes . I thought I would doubt myself-

~What's that supposed to mean! Argh..massive migraine!...I say, let's boogie outta this joint. This place is going to the hounds if we don't catch up to an ally ..or a foe..~ The two stopped mid distance as Verra's amazing nose picked up the scent of a familiar...person. Kay had to run after his cousin, who would faze through a wall if!-

 **~VEE!~**

 **/**

Too late, the cat had left the building by his instincts having taken ahold of his senses. Kayu was left, groaning while raking a hand rougly through his white hair of an official's son. ~Dang! He must have a trail..I'll do some exploring in the meantime...~ Half of Kay's attention was to another, however. ~Sayu..please don't pick up..let it be Tsuki..~

His speak was to the air now, his thoughts being directly sent to a sorceress of her own right.

~Hello? Is someone there?~ Lady Light instead had caught the call, which left Kay to abandon ship. Little had he realized that Tsuki and Tsani had been in the rooms of the Light official that day. He had blown that over.. pretty easily. Not even realizing how right his actions had been able to contact the daughter of A without breaking a sweat!

Getting caught, not at all brilliant though..

 _~Ehem!_ Malady _Liight!~_ The fox would play a trick, having the Light Daemoness work her magic around the real culprit- by an enigmatic projection of another's voice.

 _~Sir...Gregory?~_

Vee reunited with his bud , though snickered and rolled over onto his tummy in a fit of stinging laughter by what he had witnessed. Kay just went with the flow of this discussion. The REAL Greg was going to have his fur shaven for this prank, and with interest...

~Sir , _Gregory!~_ Lady Light seemed to buy the false voice's response, yet she seemed upset. Agh! Greg was on Earth! He was going to be taken down!

Crap!

~You were stationed with the Chosen, _why_ are you contacting me of all the guardians combined? Has your task to conduct as much over Hecate's betrayal gone arwry?~

Vee blinked and ushered his cousin to quit waiting like a motionless dummy, and to unearth more -

~No, no, of course not. My Lady ,we have yet to discover what is is she has done - strewn from the path of order , hoping to fill a void as if to turn! Never on my watch will that happen. Lady Darkness still remains comatose..We still require Hecate's guidance to maintain both order and harmony where it is lacking. You too, must never lose hope in the guardians for that matter.~

Vee was holding back a chuckle that filled his fox's cheeks. Kay was a great dummy for the stage- what an actor!

~Yes well, do keep your comrades out of danger. Earth is the real of the lost and turned..they are fodder for daemon influence. Beings we have sworn to protect since their creation of we elementals.~

She said this as the fox remained stung by her pride. ~Yes, malady. Without question. This I now hope never to add to- day remains the part where I must part with her majesty.~

Vee had to knock his head into a pillar of the great hall to quit his annoying fits. Light could NOT overhear a single giggle.

~Then for this time, I thank you for your commendable work as a royal representative to the guild of the 'Late Orion.' ~ Orion the wise had beern familiar to the Daia line- then Greg was their ticket to finding Catherine and Cecilia!

Vee made note with a wink as the connection was soon let go. They were crazy as foxes,yet knew what and who to call for the officials' coordinates. ~Back ta' Earth via the Celestial passages? ~ Vee asked with a cat's grin, while Kayumon returned to his proper age by the magic's return to his body.

~After you-

~Don't mind if I doooo!~ The cat sped off as the instincts of a daemon took hold. ~We have to get your mortal body back...don't run off! Idiot!~ They teleported to the place of their choice,.leaving poor Kay winded- even after having grabbed Verra by the nape of his neck. ~Bad cat! We could be tried for treason, don't go flying solo on my -

~Guardians!?~ The one to spot the two, had the fox and cat hybrid with theirhands in the air. ~Oh! Dear gods, it's me! Skylar Thomson!~ The two sighed, letting Vee have his break from the Celestial son's grip. ~Hey...what, brings you-

~If you are looking for your ticket back to the earthen plane, that one is booby trapped for sure.~ Skylar pointed to a signal that could latch onto the cat in miliseconds. ~Spot on...~Kay blinked and pulled his mutt cousin away from the vortex. ~What are we after then if the channels are blocked, mate?~ Skylar smiled and raised his wand high into the air.

~I prefer private air travel. Even Piper knows of the Titans being on the go down below us. We even had the rush off to Italy to find Ci-

~You _what!?~_ Vee was ecstatic, though not in a particularly great mood to boot. ~You, did that! What and where are the rest of our comrades! Why there!? And what about my vessel, Shoji!~

~If we find the earthen sphere, then you'll have a better attitude towards the intervention of the Eternal council.~ Skylar had Verra quiet as the portal took hold of the room. The alarming part was how Skylar had a wand- did they raise the ban over such a relic centuries ago?

~Hop inside! I can only have the ripple effective for a few seconds...hurry, then!~

The cat and fox were safe from the eyes of the imposter. He must have rushed off to Earth. At least , that was what the team of two believed . However the fact, Charl still had a chance to turn around his luck with a deity which had caught his eye. Tsani, the princess of Hope and time's late child had been left with Tsuki hime and only a hand full of elementals to protect her. Kayu would be the first to learn of this ...yet for now...

/

Lao Ming had to force herself to not become...upset after her allexpense paid ride over to the city of Rome. If the 'famous' Daia council woman was still playing that game ...well, she had a few of her own to try out . Borgges also had been kind enough to spare some of Shoji's fortune for this , cause... Well!

Lao Ming knew where Catherine was no more than the Titans did. She instead set her sights on the most ruthless daughter- Cecilia Crescendo Lunaria Daia.

Her names had a way of reshaping as the moon did. How cute for the diva- forced into hiding by her lousy title! Lao Ming had never been this lucky in her life. Her father had her soldoff to fight,to kill and nothing more . The Tenkit empire had been one of harsh punishment.

She hated out of all the rulers, the glotton- king Nyeownysses. His daughter was born of both eastern and southern Tenkit origins. She was called LangShunee (made up.) Though since departed, she had sired many heirs to the throne. One being a spoilt Jin Mae. **Ohh!** That hapless brat had fallen in an accident. Horses and the sort. Her courtiers had the girl taken back to her palace, her hea elsewhere..until Hathor by way of air mail...had ressurected herself with Jin Mae now obsolete!

~The lioness is brave to have returned, yet are her methods any more pure than my employer's?~ The cat girl wondered as she slipped from roof top to roof top. My...Rome was...such a city with a view!

The scape itself was of a sunrise, the setting was elsewhere in the world. On a section of the large town, it looked to be alive even in the earlier hours of the day..for food to be crafted!

~My...lips...need...meow- no! First off! Blend in. ~ Her appearance could not warp as Charl was able to do so. She had to ...try out some clothes from the first 'grande magazzino' she layed her eyes upon..

~Ottima cattura! **Aya!** ~ Her language skills would increase as long as the cat remained a tourist. ~ I miei occhi possono distinguere molto dalla lingua qui che vedo. Prendero solo appunti, tutti quelli che la mia mente puo memorizzare. (Translation on the fun side: My eyes can dissect a lot from the language here that I see. I will just take notes, as many as my mind can store.)

 _~Urra!_ I am ready to become a spy in this country of such distinguishable feats!~ She knew that Cecilia was a tough actress , especially to her first home in Italy. ~Mm...Ora per, abbigliamento..dress, come una persona di cui ci si puo fidare - aha!~

~A tour _guide...yessss..~_ The cat hissed while retaining her evil laugh for later. She shook her own hand with a grin wider than a storybook animal's. ~ Proposta _fantastica_ , signorina gatto.~ Lao Ming danced outta rooves of her setting before sending her efforts to the nearest wig shop . ~ Hair, clothing, shoes! I am in a haven of the _'tutto alla moda!'_ ~

Not forgetting her job, Lao Ming every precaution in preventing her enemies from discovering the assassin's identity. ~ _Ahh,_ my dear Borgges will know just what this job means...I am eternally greatful indeed!~

However their arangement, both were puppets of a true puppeteer. None could avoid the fact, as eyes watched, off from afar...

/

Lady Hecate, was tired. She returned to the under-realm where Lady crone Hel stayed quiet . She would not reveal the childrens' whereabouts to the unlucky goddess of the under world in Greece. Myth lived on, yet the counties still had barriers in place for reasons set by their creators.

~Agh...that _wretched_ child has fooled you. ~

Hecate spoke ill of Ava, which had the lady Hel refuse to answer. She sat by Yggdrasil's roots and watched with her head lowered. The crone other than she, was a constant nag on her bad days.

~Are you listening, elder? If the northern barrens is let to become a safe haven for those convicted-

~I refuse to debate while you are still unwell.~ Hel finally added as her eyes grew dark and stared deep into Hecate's violet ones. ~I ama seer, I saw of the outcome and must now tlet it to slumber-

~The chosen is not our enemy. Only another must be at work..I fear your judgement has become clouded-

~Crone, I out rank you by age alone! ~ The deity then had, yet now, she was of a youthful tyrant and black widow category by her rebirth.

~This debate in all categories makes my stomache churn! Yes, why the children ? Due to the fact that they know what brought about the collapse! It has been overlooked, yet A' no longer wishes to protect them...Sayu is mindlessly "flitting" her tail in a rage! Tsani is not yet qualified to rule as the next A'! ~

~Soo, _soo_ much ails you...why not take to my brew and discuss this matter without the feeling to tie you down-

~I am a goddess of unforeseen **events!~** The witch exclaimed as if the gesture had been an insult. ~We have no such time to enjoy the pleasures of the Celestial. You and I toil for the sake of order- we embody fate!~ She stomped off to located any exit. Nothing could keep the queen-

 **~Yggdrasil** says to stay. ~

Roots bound the lady crone by the ankles. The elder just sipped her elixer while having the Grecian nightmare to do the same. Yet this new Hecate was a stubborn character as any afficted by the black widow cult's power and influence.

~You will heal as Sayu did. As Isis, and as Aria and Cecilia. You must not turn to your fears for support. Drink,let your soul be well-

~Forcing my hand to lower by your methods? How **dare** you! Unhand me this _instant!-_

Hel cackled in a playful way, then snorted to the younger deity with a gaze into the other crone's pitiful eyes.

~You **demand** from an elder ? Even if my blood be to the earth, not to the glorified reign of conquests- then why _ever_ had you decided to come here?~ She thundered aloud. ~To my domain, you disturb the balance we Norse deity have kept even before **YOUR** arrival! The true 'Hecate ' in which formed the pact of elders was no such wretch to our promises. You are a sham of the original muse! Fall back and return to your 'Hades!' Away with your foul _luck!~_

The goddess gasped before the tree had created a vortex by way of Hel's interdimensional magic. Hecate was ashamed, she had only been living again...when..wait!-

~I am not the one you must banish! Believe in my word again as tru!-

 ** _~Nay!_** You are no better than the strix with her tempers of a harpy- unforgivable...find your saviours on Earth-

 _~Noo!~_ The vortex held those vines to toss a powerless underworld crone to her demise. Hel simply watched and tried to block that lingering plea from her mind.

~My old friend..~ She groaned once the vortex had shut. With Hecate spiralling towards the earthen city of Rome. Her allies and enemies were waiting with such strain on the Norse grandmother's senses..oh! Ava had to be wise and avoid any rebellions herself. ~Hecate will come to her senses..Humanity will remind her of this.~

The elder waved her wrist to have the fading curtain fall overhead her dear tree of life. Turning to its branches,she softly whispered in a wraspy voice. ~Wodin would never forgive me for holding prisoners where the warriors hath fallen. We are to keep the void, as they say, sacred.~

/

Ava and Aiden were closer by the feeling of how empty the princess's palace seemed. From the outside, the world was being restructured to suit a new time an need for its people. Ava Marie had doe well by claiming her rightful spot as Reia's only living heiress. Aiden did not know just how busy his sister had been! Coming tok earth had been impossible with the paths and passages blocked- Hati had attempted a mountain of wrongs before losing his rites as a tyrant . (Arc new gen, part two.)

Ava reminded herself hourly to check on her poor brother's condition. He could not survive long with the temperatures constant and around the lunar elements of winter. Aiden was cursed to bear his power from the deity Horus and of The Phoenix relic of immortality and rebirth.

Due to this, he and Anna both suffered severely when the only world they had found themselves in, had been Ava's snow covered front. To this day, only Ami coukd traverse without a scratch. She had been granted the ability by Lady Hel and by the rabbit Henry's familiar form, giving itself up to save her shivering form, from death's door. ( Same earlier arc. Very intense!)

~Hel..~Ava wonderd with her finger nails not yet bitten to the quick. ~I have to contact her , somehow..she has the power to grant him immunity , like Amelia.~ Ava brought a cool , soaked cloth to her brother's seering brows.

~Hang in there...Tellervo and I will see to this...~ She left a maid servant in charge before asking to the servant NOT let her brother leave the room, or the castle for any reason. Not even to relieve himself. The servant nodded of course, gulping by the after thought that this action would bring...

Ava set off to another hall where the doors were only for contacting the outside- and the spirit council if need be. So far, her only accomplishment by this had been when her people had been brainwashed and collectively frozen in time by Hati.

Fenrir's son had been the wolf which in sagas of the Norse, had always been on a mission to steal away the moon deity- Manu. In this regard, Ava had been confused by the teams' enemies as Freya, Manu, Reia, and Anya Wolfsmund. She had to form an identity that would stick this time! Those Eternal leaders were so..

~The were indiscrminately out of line with their orders, and of who would follow, is what you were going to say?~

/

Ava froze up. She turned around with her eyes still hoping not to cry. The alchemists of this region had been hard at work, yes..though her tears were a waterfall to shake this cold, lonely tundra from existance.

~Ch..chris?...Is..is that really you...?~ Her hands were under some spell, called love. She had always hoped that her classmate would return from whatever prison Hati had kept him locked up in..now, she realized that the weight on her chest could lessen.

 _~Christopher!~_ She hugged him, finding that his faire folk ears as a reincarnate of Reia's allies had stayed. So Chris, was never human like her...

~I came searching but, the scientist who also lived in Reia's time of need,told me to come warn you.~ His eyes were grave, as if war was about to break out. Ava looked into his green and gold with hef own lavender churning full of worry.

~Don't ...don't come here to say that!~She chuckled and pulled his arm towards Aiden's rooms. ~We have to reintroduce-

~I am serious, Princess.~ He tugged her a bit to reply.

His eyes were still solidly thinking ahad, calculating the angles- every possible way to keep Ava andher kingdom safe. ~Is..~ Ava let go with her fingers surely fridged by the words he had spoken. ~Is that all you see me as , anymore? Are, you _not_ my Christopher Jean?~She asked in a smaller voice, laced with disappointment.

~Ava, this is more impor-

~I'm sure, forget it. What is the news? As Princess, I have a right to know what might be troubling the barrens' safety.~ She had swapped personas quickly. Her mask back in place for she, was no longer human enough to live and thrive as one. Chris ..Christopher was just the Eternals' project. Her soldier if need be. Nothing more.

~To the western wall, the gates of Hel's domain have been left open. Rather, a trail of energy has presented itself. Hecate...you know what I am trying to add?~

~She's escaped to ...what? Is her identity no secret? Why so bluntly SAY that she is leaving her cronies to come after us? Then we have to pull up more barriers-

~It's too late for that.~Chris bowed his head , rather bobbing it down to not look into her frustrated ones. ~They will have your kingdom tried, all of your citizens will become conspirators. I fear for you and your brother-

~Aiden is not well enough to make the journey! He almost froze to death! I had to bring him here, we never made it to...what o..what about Lady Hel?~ Ava exclaimed, breaking the awkward pattern away from an onslaught( again.)

~She sent Hecate afar, yet her familiar creatures of darkness are still within this realm-

~She's full of surprises..you're one to say that..~

Ava bit her lip and was talking about Chris..how he had decided to forget them first..

Chris awaited Ava's call on the matter. Aiden had to be fast asleep for a portal to be opened. ~We have to hide, let them destroy the city, relocate the villagers and townsfolk. Find the Wolves and have them cover the peoples' scents well...we won't be safe here. I have to build borders with Hel's clan and hope that others will open theirs' when that happens. ~

Chris was surprised by this action. He almost could not say another word, yet had to try. ~And of the limits we may bring , for rebuilding the kindom?~

Money, yes. How else had they kept Ava's story afloat. Ava nodded while facing away from Chris. ~ One party member will contact Aneiu here. The others, warn the citizens, door to door to reduce any panic-

~Will it be enough time to?-

~The third will locate while Aneiu is being channeled, a place to start over. A passage to our new home...we'll be refugees for a few weeks. I will not let that continue till longer.~ Ava's firey intent was certain, yet fate was not always so forthright as this purpose the girl hoped to hold close by and at hand. Chris understood, yet his interrupting the matter was pressing.

~Yes, then what of the intrusion? It will be thick as miasma and will take lives, you cannot-

~We can only try.~

She turned back to face her knight at an angle. Her eyes catching a glint of the dying sun's rays through an opened window. Ava's fists curled into clusters by her sides. ~Until our palms sweat and we freeze on top of the highest cliffs- we will try until there is nothing to say or do, but never give up!~ She pointed, her right, gloved finger directly into Chris's face.

He nodded, baffled, then changed his image in front of the Princess. His stance was onto one knee. She looked like a real ruler, though the rest would determine the latter. He, her royal watchdog of the snowy front. Things, were about to come to pass.

/

Finding an ally in a temptress like Aria isn't going to be a cake walk if the team fails. Cecilia is also a trickster by her matter of secrecy and the dak arts( not evil magic mind you.)

Questions remain- the young Ami is to stay put in Japan until further notice. The Titans are on their way to Italy. When come face to face with a crafty and dangerous Lao Ming? Will the sorcerss know of the Titans' reason for searching for Catalina without a word? And what of the dark reminder from Hecate that will leave Ava's country homeless until further notice? Was Chris really back to help Ava , or to help himself?..(nothing punny there.) Stay tuned if you will, for chapter six of the manifesto pages! Read on and stay curious for more!


	7. Chapter 7

Teen Titans; New Generations; The Storyteller Arc; The Manifesto Pages - Part One; Chapter 6: Revealed at Long Last- Cecilia's Whereabouts Confirmed. 'Put Your Hands Together For...the Infamous, Aggie -G?'

/

Awkward title, I tend to use my words a bit more than need be...oh well! So, our heroes are scattered- Aria has decided to lend a hand in saving Shoji...or is she just following orders again? As we saw to previously, Ayane is locked up tight in the black cat's main building under Takahara Corp's name. The seer and sorceress of the 'Priestesses of the Sect of Delphi' ( For short, Delphi Agents of the ancient world) , Agatha ( also was a doting pupil of Ravenna in the same era the ct had fallen. Back then , cults like the ones in Rome were normal enough - even as we see in a word from churches such as the uses of incense or other still prevalent methods. Covenant (or was that partly the root of the word Coven?) Did I mis-spell that? So, words have me dictate what I feel 'works.' What does not, will be purely gibberish.

Too late for that!

No more wild rants , on with the storyteller arc! (Oh,note, prologue took up chapter one's spot so read as if in order WITH chapter 22 from previous arc in beginning. This is chapter seven without prologue, so it now would be chapter six to clarify any confusion.

/

The darkness of her workroom was a new divide.

Yet , Lori could not take back over Sakurano's present time she had left - the blue eyed woman refused to return. This was not yet her chapter to appear. Ayane had tried this , swapping, defeating the purpose she had...nothing! And still her flame had not died, there had to be some way back..

~He has left me trapped inside , this work space is...~ Lori's wordswere stopped stopped .

"Iie!" In her own tongue she refused to think only of the problems , of this dilemma, or any good fortune would not last. ~If ever I am left to send word to Shoji...he should explain all of this to the Mayor!~

"Ohh...So what do I do...magic." Ayane snapped her fingers and looked up . "I still am a sorceress, both born and reincarnated as one." Ayane's fingers rose to scribble a spell in mid air-

"Owch!" She pulled back her hand immediately as the scorch was a warning- certainly the young boy in Shoji's chair had anticipated the witch's actions...

She scanned the room for a place to work in private. To find..aha! Ayane knew that this was her office as the head secretary and as the (go-to gal) for the company's boss. The fat cat 'everyone' seemed to refer to..

"My mind is drawing a blank on that one.." Ayane blinked, trying not to laugh on the inside by her distracted thoughts left to wander.

"Now, to out-smart that sorcerer. He does not understand what I mean to this company, and to Takahara's executives I will surely..." She smirked and let the bookshelf come into view. "That shounen will not feed me to a hungry tome."

One text, a medical dictionary was pulled gently from the shelving unit, from its vinyl case. "Yatta!" Her expression was that of a lucky child, yet her head was in more than the correct place as an adult to Shoji's industry.

"This bookcase is just the start." The rest fell away as behind it, revealed a metal door, complete with a hidden keypad and retina scanner. "No - one bags the honorable cat's secretary and is above the law here but those at the very top!" She grunted to this and boasted, as Sakurano preceeded to leave through the newly exposed door.

Right before her path, would be another set of elevators and doors- right down to the lowest level where Takahara Shoji's masterpieces (and failures) were housed in his ever-growing laboratory.

"Eh, I have already played my cards well. Try that on for size, Mahou shounen-kun!" (Informal! I know that! She's saying this out of her very 'smugness' and with a heated dislike of her captor! Infomal to piss him off if Marcus is watching from the next room via monitor.)

Before the door had shut, Ayane stuck out her tongue to the woman's captor. Yet she was young, the spell had drained her once more to not act all herself.

Ayane frowned and thought back oer her predicament again. ~Agatha has lied and now has found herself a partner. who also knew of this..plot.. that she had once had an unrequieted love interest, to make her into...~ Ayane thought about Aria's devotion and blushed.

"Back down we go." She shook her head. "Shoji must be finding a channel to earth by now...I hope.." The tunnels below would be the first step towards sending an S.O.S. The Titans had to learn of the boy mastermind soon. She was certain that with their allies and abilities, they had at least some change to avoid corruption by the tome of a Sir 'Manifesto.'

/

Ami bounced on the mattress of Piper's high flat - one that had been given to her by the company 'Prez' herself. Aria assumed that Pippette could babysit and not complain! What a world, she moaned into her hands by the thought..of a tween aged brat or two under the sorceress and book - keep protege's roof!

Ami, Henry Vanderbilt and Glen, Anna had stayed and would meet up with her family and allies later( if trouble came a knockin') , and Piper herself...with Zan. That had been the decision. The sorceress Zatanna was better assocciated with Amelia Grayson's busy energy. She was a sun relic's prized student. Almost as if the deity Amaterasu were testing the foreign chosen and his family.

"Well! Here we are, guys!" Ami echoed down the hall as the fox spirit aspect of Haru (split like Verra's aspects, same thing) as her recovery had happened in hours alone. Henry bounded ahead with his heavy breadthes inches from the door. Rabbit Henry was no more, so why was he hopping along at mach speed?

"Calm down! I do not understand why-

"Hah! I am in charge, so steady yourselves or!-

"It's too loud, Ami. " Zan called ahead as Anna rushed to catch up to her sibling's shirt collar. "Waai!" Ami was boxed for such behaviour. It alomst resembled a gag cartoon on tv. "Stop it. It is not ok to run and jump up and down in someone else's place. Got it? No running, pretent you are at school. Or at one of Grampa Wayne's charity banquets."

"I think ..." Zan was over the ordeal as much as Piper as the stage magician started to interrupt. "I think we should keep our voices down..Is what you were going to say..?" Ann frowned as Zan nodded by the red head's perceptive ear.

With a groan softly, Anna had her little sister shove off towards Piper's flat.

/

 _ **"Wooow!**_ It's almost like Vee's place but cuter!" Ami's first comment left the brunette book keep blushing by the unexpected praise. She seemed to act mostly modest in the beginning, though Amelia's energy made the scout of Aria's company, Piper, ramble- and boy did she know how to boast with such an ego!

 _"Weeell!_ So glad you enjoy the designs! Oh! Do **not** touch that lamp! It is an antique from Morocco in the spirit w-

"Not the _fridge!_ I have to ...lay some...ground rules!" The sorceress shut the fridge as Glen's fingers would have been her easiest target. He was well aware though of the book keep's apprentice. Dreamwake; the sleep wizard and sorcerer of unforeseen magics...what relationship did the two still have across such wide borders?

"Ok, then ...you are...hungry, Mr. Glen?" She turned to the smithy as he was afraid to nod. Would she test him in a duel? Have him sleep outside? "No, I was unable to learn about human appliances since coming to the present day earthen plane." He explained . Piper blinked , nodded then turned to her guests. Her, fairly young and scattered party.

"If you would rather have the grand tour, raise your hand. " Piper doid not know about casual or social relationships. Her work was her life. As if a librarian within the generalized-

"Here, Zan. Ami? Myself, Haru ...and...Henry. Glen?" Anna asked the half- frost giant. "Uh, oh. Yes, that would be fine." He concluded as Piper once ah,gain could relax. "Then follow me. " The grou went from room to room. The house was as not as an ordinary apartment, yet as a suite perhaps for some two love birds to enjoy for months at a time. Did Pippette have anyoneto share this space with?

"Oh, I did forget to mention...I have to meet a guest in an hour..that was why...Aria will have to understand." She seemed to blush again by this so-called mystery man or woman. _"Ohhh?_ Are you sure we shoud stay, instead of help you out? " Anna shot a glance to her younger sister. She was clearly plotting something in that massive brain of her's to relieve some boredom. That was the worst kind of outlet!

"Absolut!-..No, I am capable on my own. Down that block however are an array of shops..We are in Tokyo, so why not enjoy the rest as tourists? I have to work, so if you tag along, then be ready if I call by cellular phone ...just in case." Piper was acting suspicious Anna had believed, yet Amelia and Zan clearly wanted to take the bait on the sorceress's end.

"We will go, but we return here after you finish with your session." Ann said this as Zan backed their approval. "Ami is clearly not able to defend herself if someone is after you or us..seeing as there is a dispute from what your friend has told us." She was referring to the council, Aria the sea siren, and Kaien...he had not only been a bad dog . Siding with the Celestials, Greg had been right to tag along to find out what the mutt had been up to. Now they would wait for the Sorcerer's reply back on his findings.

"We had better stop at the 'Niku- Yama Dumpling Shoppe!' It's nearly February in the states, but winter means steamy-

"Quiet! Yes, we will get a few bucks out of the atm. Dad gave me his number as well. But I _have_ a card. " Ann whipped out the pretty red plastic from her pack with a single zzip* of a hidden pocket's compartment. "It's a gift from Nina and Miss Santiago. I only use it on missions. Didn't tell mom yet that I became a trainer for some fitness group. She would freak..but hey!" The red head shrugged as Zan and Piper both exchanged glances. "You are equipted as well, Titans-

"Yes, every one of we 'heroes of earth' are ready to hit the city streets at a moment's notice ." She smiled which had Piper nod, lacking the familiar desire to care. Or , she was just relieved that her guests had pocket change to not spend her money, and to carelessly waste Miss Aria's time. The children's parents were not at all so careless as the book keep had thought them to be by their sudden appearance .

"Tokyo will mean Yen, sis!" Ami said.

Anna grinned back miscieviously (retype! So sooryy!) as her sister cocked her head to puff out her cheeks by the delayed response.

"We took care of it before coming here . " The red head puffed out her chest , assuredly for her sister to quiet down her rants. "Oh, but you will have only one niku..whatever-bun- stop I won't have you up-chucking on the way home once we head back to Cali after our mission's done n' done!"

Amelia's face resembled that of a scorched marshmallow by her unreliable sister's decision to withhold their savings...'Okashi Land' (Real place! Look it up!) was four blocks, that - away!.

She had the cheeks of an angry squirrel, and the temperment of a fan girl being denied her seat at a big event . What would be better? One bun or ten? Secretly, Ami only pretended to act a bit annoyed to maintain this 'dramatic episode' by falsely having others assume that she adored sweets to high-heaven. It was a quirk of being the youngest in the band. And Anna seemed to lighten up too!

~You owe me one Mochi Mania figurine before then...time ten ! **Meaniie!~** Ami stuck out her tongue to finalize her rant as the runt of the questionable bunch left her sister gaping and red as a volcano. Glen chuckled as Henry fret over what Piper might do to the quarreling teammates.

"We, must hurry then." The brunette sorceress looked at a clock by the den wall and quietly bit her lip ( with such frustration she would never openly show to strangers.) "That should do it then, come Vanderbilt. You should live while we're young enough here. " Glen batted his bud on the back as the ruddish haired , green eyed wizard hiccuped out of fright. "I..I know ! Meyers, you should dress down a tad. Someone will question us all for that -

"I don't know enough magic to change my character. We have to shop in a men's boutique for that." Anna shook her head to this. "We have an hour, let's make him look like a tourist! Are you guys thinking what-

"You stole my line!" Ami shouted, pouting with her cute fists stuck into knots by her sides. "Arh! My appeal is the devious trickster! No fair! Wwah!"

"Out! _**Out**_ ! I will be later if you act so ridiculous in broad daylight!" Piper shouted with hee voice raised , even with her tone still that of a teen's by her image here not..having fully developed. "Tokyo! Here we _coome!"_ Ami rang the gong as Zan , Henry and Glen chased her back down the hall , towards the city streets of a modern Japanese setting in February. February...not only that. Yet another team of foes had fish to fry in ...

/

The team had an idea, or clue, as the rest took the easy route by Ronald's intervention. He used his power to transport the group where the sea hit just right by the cliffs of a beautiful -

"Venice..wrong location! You, fix this! " Haru was angrier now that her sister had been given the keys to some elaborate scheme. Amaterasu had been awake and sleeping for TOO long to not have seen the younger fox's change of heart.

"I wish to finish your task and find my sister, Kaede as soon as possible."

"But!" Gar protested and jumped in front of the two foxes. "This , this is a paradise ... _guys!_ We can't just act like we are on the move constantly!" Changeling wimpered as Raven shot the green hero daggers - sort of a good ole' days nostalia at that to boot!

"We will, but the clues are here, in this country." Dick turned to his best hero's persona as Dami mostly watched a few feet off. "I stayed with you, Zan and your kids are back in Japan, so why are we standing around ? By car we should be able to make the trip south in -

"Hours, we have time. But we do not know where anything is since..." Raven dared to say the impossible.

"What? Rae?...are you _saying!?"_

The others turned pale and gulped in unison. "We entered without a visa , um..or until we go to confirm with the officials-

"We freakin' broke the law!" Gar jumped by Cy's grunt. It was, more an exclaimation of the obvious here in Italy.

"Oh no!" Kori clenched her jaw. "Then , we _are!-_

"Cecilia might even have some idea of what the Titans are doing...Oh, if only we could contact her from where is is she is in- the - hiding!" Kori groaned as her eyes turned to a town not far from them. They were still close to a city!

"Right, which is why we swap gear, stay low and **_DON'T_** talk to any 'law enforcement' unless a monster **IS** on the loose." Dick nodded to Cy as Demi rolled his eyes next to Raven. "How long do you think we can stand being incog in Italy?" He asked. "You look like a tourist **WITH** a reason to be here! I say go and get a real document to prove we can stay for as long as we-

"Forgetting a certain Bat?" Ronald coughed by Raven's comment. "You, are shrewd , madame."

 _"Signorina,_ I do not _lie_ about my availability, unless it's a pain to 'act' single." The fox offered his support, though the story dragged on without warning.

Richard brought his eyes to his team, they were never wavering when it came down to tough situations such as preventing a war - or starting one on foreign soil . "We should definitely try to act like citizens. In the meantime, get in contact with Bruce." He pointed to the newest boy wonder. "Oh, and whatever you do - make sure we are not being followed ." Dami raised a brow by the Azarathian's nature and extra added in warning. "Why? We always have to watch our backs." The younger Titan misunderstood something here..

"If anyone finds out about a conspiracy , including Batman." Dick replied. "Then it's curtains for our plans to free the cat in Japan- and that falls onto the Titans and the spirit world leaders' shoulders. Don't protest. She's right."

"Ok, so watch where we sit, eat, shimmy and shake. Ehem! Got it 'mate." Ron salute the elder 'miss' as his dog's genuine instincts took hold of the situation. "Let's not leave 'her majesty Miss Daia' waiting ." He turned to the road and started to survey its contents without turning back. "I fear Cecilia may know more than she's let on to us previously." The lightening hound though spoke, yet did mutter slightly under his to remain unclear.

~That very ' Bella ' Cici, is no more a dark mage than her mum 'Catalina Daia' is a high Priestess to the Crescendo and Solaris lines." Ron turned to explain to the heroes. Lying wasn't in him as before. The team looked lost without a guardian! ~The royal court's perfect Witches , protected BY Lady Hecate herself -at that I must concure...~ He grinned a fox's grin all the while, as the team walked to catch Ronald's weasly tail. _~Signorina...the_ game is set and match for your highness...possibly sitting oh- so comfortably in Rome's high seat... as we stand here perplexed and baffled.~

Those heroes had to be closer than that. For Cecilia, was a master over the arts of illusion magic. She could disappear and re-appear all across the globe, in the blink it took to bat a single lash.

/

Marcus, on the other hand had ideas. He had plans, yet...his party was scattered elseplace.

~My ideal realization is to surpass that serpent's own magics.~ The silver haired child groaned before seeking out, a friend within the darkest reccesses which only he and one more knew of.

~My tome and saviour...where doth thou carry thy weight?~ Borgges looked to the air as his imagination was not far off. The book of such tricks to this slimy trade- he had found it burried in another world! It had granted Marcus back his life from the clutches of Lilu- yes. The strix's toy he had been by falling to temptation.

(Wattpad story! Veil of time! Pageturner09 account story! I advise you to read this after you have read that arc (Veil of time, forgotten myth ( or forbidden myth if incorrect) which now drives Marcus's plans forward in to the present day! )

~You! Beautiful cryptic knowledge ...Grant me your lessons for a price!~ He demanded this act,the tome the size of an entire room, though intangible with room to spare between its massive pages. Lifted off the ground, his body became the streks of miasma it collected. The rest was up to his partner..

 **~MANIIIFESST...MANNIIFEST...BUILD** A _WORLD_ **...TOOO _DECIEVVVE THEEEM!~_**

~Nay, that is not the answer I wish to hear from a tool!~ Marcus raised his wand proudly and let words be spoken to quiet the ugly text hovering above the exiled sorcerer.

 _ **~HEEED MY WOOORDS!** YOU ARE **DEAD** BY YOUR INFLUENCE! SICKLY_ , _EVIL...NO LONGER **ANY**_ **ONE!** _BUILT BY A_ _DEMON...SCORNING_ A _**KING**_ ! _BE WARRNED! YOUR PRICE IS FAR TOOO HIGH! -_

Marcus groaned and had heard enough from his tool.

"PAGE...RETURN TO YOUR AFTER- REALM ...!~ The book shuddered and shrunk back to its original size, the red fog wafting about as the silver haired sorcerer shileded himself with his cloak.

~Humph!~ Marcus in a sense, used his magic to figuratively twist the book's spine, or it's arm in this dire moment. He heard the telepathic hurt croak from the demonic book's echoing chambers . ~Auugh! You are old and not at all what I desire of this new plot, yet to unfold before my enemies in such a way..~ The grinning sociopathic child was ageless in his curiosities. Her smirked by the book's weakness, it was easily taken by any .master whom could bind it back.

He was levitated upwards by the magnetic pull of this dark relic's art. The boy in Marcus was hoping to strike a bargain. Instead, he had a test or two to complete, part of the contract he had signed made this so.

The book bellowed out with a cry before the brat had a sense to watch himself. ~HEEED THIS TIME! YOUR ALLIES ARE OF FEW! DISPOSE OF THEM, DO THIS TO ALLOW YOUR DREAM ITS CREATION! WAIT NO LONGER...I RETURN, TO NOW REST AGAIN..~

The tome disappeared with the room returning to its shape as all was, quiet. Marcus huffed and pulled out his own book from before, as his feet gracefully returned to solidly plant themselves onto the physical plane . Manifesto's tangible copy , had left the child curious...with that present in the form of a poignant, spell. Brilliant!

"How I shall repay your kindness...Manifesto is not I!" The silver haired sorcerer barked and ripped open the tome on his enemy's desk. "Oh, a clue? Well, won't this be fun!" The boy searched each page carefully before finally losing his concentration . He turned page after page, a mad gleam in his eyes by how the book had him -

"Now,who is the master storyteller!? I have that title and intend to further my conquest of this inferior world! Earth..it seems drab, nothing that a spirit - turned could hope to leave in one piece! Now...where the devil is that Charl? " Marcus put the book back and scratched his ear with a grunt. "My lap dog is late with his delivery! Damned hound!"

The boy punched a hole in the cat's desk. The splinters did not stick , he was after all - immortal by comparison to the con - cat in the finest suits money could buy. Yet Marcus was again incomplete. Shoji hadstolen a form, yet none could replace Borgges' childhood self..Lilu and the dragon had seen to that.

"I will total his enterprises with my hands alone...you, once a servant to the red dragon king. And she! ...Your doll without a master...Lori, was it?" Marcus recalled the past, yet Ayane was someone new to the foreign being. Someone dlly underappreciated for her hard work. He could exploit this later.

"None of it should matter, not right now as we pave our way - turning this ordinary _**DUMP**_ ! ...Into certainly, organised _filth!_ A mess, I will be sure to send my message loud and clear.." Marcus laughed quietly in a dark voice and treated this event as a field day for his ego.

"Cats , _dogs!_ I fear not those meant to stop me! When and whenever though, Charl should learn to cower properly! Imp..What was his last mission..."

As the late Master Borgges attempted to recall such a time and place, a certain group out of heaven's gates was back down to earth. However that seemed all well and dandy for our guardians, the larger sides to debate over had yet to break free from the surface of their new reality.

/

 _"AAAAGGHHHHH!"_ Falling from the sky, was anything but a joyride- locked out of Venus, Mars, Jupiter's golden seals, meant that the two dogs were mincemeat - if EVER they tried to return to the Celestial plane in one piece , spouting peace from their dead lips .

Verra was as Veravakumu - Kayumon was as Kay or Calumon . The figure that had aided the two in their escape...

 **"Gaaah!** Thompson! Stop this crazy _thhiiing!~_

Calumon yowled as never before by how the spiral seemed a tornado above the great Cathedral in -

 _"Ooh_ la-la!" Cal knew his eyes were dizzily seeing not Italy, yet Paris!

"Qu'est-ce qui se passe!?" Verra asked as they fell, down down into ...

 _"Yowch!_ Tower ! **_Tower!_** We are !-

 _"Non!_ " Skylar Thompson halted their collapse into the sacred and monumental Eiffel tower.

~ Hang on!~ The boy transmutated into a transformed Griffon. The only creature large enough to carry two besides a flying wyvern or dragon.

 _"Ahh!"_ Cal returned to his form by the shock, as the humanoid Kayu and Vee stayed the victims. Vee especially was amazed by how quickly the pupil of Pier's had grown. "Nice spell there. " Vee added with a nervous grin. "You must have practiced your tail off to-

 _"Nnnhghh...My_ form is ! "

The two looked to the reddish haired sorcerer. "You...ar-

"Cannot...hold on! **_Breakinng!"_** His grip over the griffon form started to revert to that of Skylar's own body.

Now that Kayu had his form returned as well, the three were ready to dodge another bullet. "Hey!" Vee felt the other fox's arm grip the dark haired cousin's collar with a forceful tug. _"Jump!"_ He shouted , commanding Verra to concentrate on their landing . He was still too weak to summon Verra for any high flying miracles- no end to the madness of being a Guardian outcast...

 **"Bonzaaai!"** The cat fell in his humanoid form, though attempted to land in it too. A couple was strolling the fountains that hard recently been repolished by the setting-

 _"HEADS UUUP!"_ Kay could not stop that 'hades hound cousin of his' from ruining a proposal!? The ring was...

"Oh _non!_ Non non **_non!"_** The woman was quite upset. The dog had the dirtied engagement ring...on his tongue...ok _then!_

"Mon cheri, darling...do not-

"This is _not_ funny! **Andrew!** You are not defending me at _all?!_ Fix this mess or I will report this man myself! How rude!"

The woman was speaking both English and French as if she could understand how foreign Shoji really was. The joke came when Kayu could see hiscousin getting ready to speak Niho-

 _"Iiiee!"_ The deed was done. Nothing could be taken back now.

"Aye!" The white haired fox let out a growl. "Get off this instant and return the woman's ring to her! I don't care how miserable _YOU_ are! Madamoiselle...I am so , _soo_ sorry for the trouble we might have caused you both.."

The cat handed the dog official his 'reward' before bowing his head and embarressing them both further! ~ You only pretend to be Shoji! Stops causing him trouble, and for me as well!~ The light haired Celestial glared into the dark cat's eyes. Both were definitely annoyed and somewhat drained by their journey back to earth.

"What? You will have to pay for the cleaning. Ah! Well, I beg pardon. You may clean up this 'mess' with a token...hush, cat! ...Ahh..my family, was out of town for the evening. We were scouted for a film here with the tower ...I think the craft was blown to the side...please! Be happy for one another ! Take care then!"

The dogs had narrowly escaped, the payment had been a cleaning for that poor ring by the son's own donation. He was wealthy of course, yet the rest was history if Sayu tried to tug the cat's chain...

"I'll repay you-

Halting and turning to his dim cousin, Kayumon snorted something by his lacking patience that made the mutt stand on his hind legs to hear.

"We..are miles off the map- just when things had been at their bleakest, Skylar only shows up in time - in time to see us at our worst! " He was embarressed. The red faced daemon gave no indication of a change in his mood. Not until they had found the Titans miles away to the core of Italy herself.

"Bloody ...no! _No!_ We are _leaving_ with no time to end this charade!" The fox son was fuming, refusing to see reason and yet...

"Oy, listen...Kay-

Shoji should have shut his mouth there..And when he did not!-

"I will follow them, not **you.** You have sullied our good clan's name by your idiocy. Call me no longer, a brother of YOUR HALF WIT _SCHEME!_ " Kay dashed away by his tail, it's ability to allow cloudsto settle round without beng spotted worked ideally for the up and coming god - among - them.

Abandoned by the shimmering Eiffel tower, Shoji could only pick up the pieces. His cousin, was calling the shots..ok..

"He has a dramatic side. If the poor guy says he wants to be alone, bring an umbrella." The cat's dopple self in human skin laughed by the irony of his own joke. Skylar chuckled, yet his plan to be here was not so cut and 'dry.'

(Pun on the rain god antics. Haha..)

"Should we grab a way up the fastest route?" The cat heard the red headed sorcerer ask. "We could. Or, we could find a few friends in high places first. " The red head nodded, though looked confused by the statement from the elder. "Alright , if it has its merits on your mission. Then Paris is the spot to find ourselves some intel dealers."

"Uhuh. " The cat turned to walk away towards the next street. The bid their late farewell to such a monumental design as the tower where the three had fallen. Hopefully, the local police here were lenient. Yet, what police were ever kind without notice in the first place? Alertness before paranoia, as it were.

Not too far down the stretch, the cat had a serious face on.A game face ready for any invasion from the seventh dimension. Skylar stopped as the cat narrowly slipped by and made way for an abandoned street that stood out from the city of lights. It was older. Thompson started to feel anxious. Why the sudden detour? Were they lost already-

"Kayu didn't say where he'd be heading. " Shoji said as the two stopped. Skylar stood only a few feet from the Guardian and was still unsure of what to expect. "Are we alright? " Thompson frowned and hoped the daemon form of Verra would not appear. The streets here were ancient, deserted The cat knew where he was walking! This was-

"Ah, thought things couldn't be any shittier if you tried to drown me in the river Thames. Poor you."

Skylar chuckled . His secret was out. "I was sure your cousin had a whiff of the worst to come-

 _ **"Aghrgh!"**_ The cat emerged, right on schedule.

"We don't have time to fool around! What are you? Obviously, you took on Skylar's form. I know that you are a fake! Come out of that shell, or your body lies here. The city I suppose you know like the back of you-

"Sir? You take me for a tour guide, fluent in the art of _...duplicating_ one-self..How silly you _are,_ Guardian duo!"

The face did change as Kayu slipped by , right on target. That had been their way- a sneak attack on the unsuspecting victim. How dreadful for such a pair! Since, well, Sayumon was the master planner here.

"We had a tip of from a certain vixen that you like to steal the spotlight. A lot more time than an average to planthis ..." The fox ofstorms and clouds errupted to take his energy out on the still transforming body that was clearly an imposter with Thompson's eyes and nose.

 _"Ahh...you_ have me now, dogs! I am at a loss...how perfectly dishonest _YOU_ **ARE** , and to a simple lackey of the newest ruler of this petty plane!" The face swapped slowly, creating a longer illusion as a force field protected the crook from the dogs' blows..The character was not modest in his movements. He acted as if an audience were right before the crooked , persona weilding sh-

"No..his face, I could be wrong..." The cat grit his fists and was forced to wait for the enemy to reveal its true intent. Kayu's hairs bristled madly, he had still not calmed down from their earlier fiasco? Uh oh...was..he...really then...

 _ **"Tadaa!**_ " The face, was Charl. Everything made perfect sense. Paris, his destination!

"Imp..." The cat and fox growled as shadowy miasma creeped in from all sides of the street. "Shifting is what you do, your forte? "

 _"Funny."_

The character , Charl was unamused an yawned into his palm to show his annoyance clearly. "I am called many names. Why stop there? You were so close to Rome that it was ...only a drive away if you wanted!"

 ** _"Brat!_** " Kayu shouted with a loud bark. "We would have picked up a violent stow away if you had done your deed for that 'master' you claim to be working for! So, does he know that you were outnumbered? That the Celestials anticipated your moves without a second glance? " The fox fire around Kayumon's shoulders rose higher, until Shoji knew just what was going to happen.

It did. Kayu swapped forms to have his nine tailed self return, furious and foaming at the mouth for -

"Quit it!" Verra did not have the energy to pop out at a moment's notice. He still had to lick his wounds. The cat was useless,the Guardian form was all Shoji had to defend ...wait? This wasa city...then he could aide in the villain's capture!

"Kay! You use the clouds to turn us 'unseen.' Got that!? I'll fix up the mess like new later!" Charl looked to the two cousins as if his life were the target...it was.

 _"Damned!...Ooh!_ I will not be tortured by unwell hounds - like this one!" The brunette male dodged the fox's flaming tail by a hair- bearly putting out a whiff tails of his archaic petticoat of the spirit world's finest-

"What! You imbeciles! My city! You...you intend to!-

"Bubble , bubble, bring it **ooon!"** The toil was a time bubble of sorts, around where the cat's cousin would maul the vicious shifter imp. Charl was much paler than before. He was as a spook on the loose!

"Dear gods! Damn you! Why is! _OW! **OOWW!"**_

He dodged several shots to his torso. Many aimed by Kayu's inherited fox-fire. The French villain was not cut out for such a life. He had died younger than these ruffians in battle! Why was he so afraid then!?

"Help! Oh gods! Sa-

"Nothin' on you, Kay! " The black cat grinned from his spot , holding up an erected barrier as the -

"Yich!" Bad doggie! Get! _Away!_ " Charl used the miasma to hide, yet found Kayu's beams impossible to lose or be lost from!

"End of the line!" Veravakumu growled and spun through the darkness. A fox ,and a warrior - and crazier than his cousins combined for close combat calls.

"Owch! Ratty animal! I curse you out!" The exiled knight had issues. Yet attacking their enemy's rear, Kayu was able to bounch back with a cloud of icy mist to shorten the cronie's breath into a sheet of ice.

"C-c-cel-l-l-es-

"No need for intros, villain." Kay held up his staff of the four passages' guardians and exclaimed with a cool face. "Icy and serious as a hail wind storm. "What are you doing , leading us away from our exact location? **Who** are you working for!" Vee lowered his face and then revert to Takahara's form. "Things could get a little messy if you don't do what he asks-

 _"Never!"_ Charl expected his tongue to freeze off, yet the imp's form did not allow his false self that kind of danger to befall him. "I...am on my own errend! Get out of Paris or you will sully its good nature! She is nothing if not beyond your reach, that witch in all black."

"Cici? You had better count...I am over this!"

"ou...Owch! Your fire! Don't go dragon! Revert!" Shoji tugged on his cousin, who had lost control by the imp's games. "No! He..is my prisoner until the council catches wind! Take us to Daia and I might spare your pathetic existance!-

"Villainous, much? " Takahara gasped, his face pale and very sweaty by the other fox's display of a god's attitude.

"Don't blow this! " Shoji warned aloud to his shifting youbi relative.

"I won't let him win!"

"Am I that serious? Well!" The charcter revert fully into Charl again before changing once more

"Oh...crud." Kay had been out of control, his fireall over the streets as the impturned into a six year old nightmare - and human!

"We..Kay!..Kay!? " Shoji cried out. Sirens, they were in for it now!

"Get outta the way! " The fox fire spitting daemon attacked as his from became that of a silvery , mist and cloud wiiged giant. A dragon with wings and a snake's body. The older of the forms before wings had become a useless asset.

"No! You'll be dethroned! Get out of their way!" The black cat , suited president of Takahara corp had nothing else he could do. Wait!

"How bout if I go...and catch him on all fours?" The businessman grinned up to his cousin.

"Busy! My fight ! ~

He was changing with the 'speak' too..it wouldn't be long...

Shoji then thought.

"A race." He said this, then turned into a similar dragon, though one without those glossy wings. He was all black with red eyes, as red as gleaming garnets. ~If I catch him, you turn back. We report the rest. Sound fair?~ Veravakmu smirked to his cousin as he float into the white dragon's airspace..

~If you lose sight of our future captive!-

~Then it's settled. Hear that, Impy!~ The cat's speakwas rusty. His dragon self seemed to enjoy playing the deal onto his own kind, over their heads.

~Aagh! I will gather my time,you can ONLY _HOPE_ to catch me! Brat officials! ~ The boy changed again to become a falcon. ~Eat my dust, catty duo! Au revoir!~

 _~Zakenna!_ No you don't!~ Shoji's form battled through the air with his intense speed and agile body. Wings were nice, but he felt a bit less weight on his back. So worth the change !

~I won't let you surpass me in a footrace!-

 _~Wah!?~_ Veravakumu was stunned by how pissed a mere imp had made...right, Lori's vessel. That and Cici. He was in bad cop mode. Figures.

 _ **~Haha!**_ ~Charl laughed in his falcon body. ~Chiens muets! (Hope this is correct..)You are not chancing to attack! You fight among yourselves! I am laughing AT YOU! Not WITH ! Ohoh! How the mighty hath fallen!~

The two did not hesitate as Kayu took to a nose dive. The ground and air rumbled from his presence. Sayu, would be having puppies not kittens, right about now. Slobbering hounds by the dozen!

~Tell _**uuusss!~**_ The darkened glower from the fox had the youth pick up speed as a cheetah in the streets. He swapped forms to become an animal - but the air was still brisk in spring time. His warm weather animal's joints popped as the collision, was his undoing.

~Hoooo...you made my attempts fail..~ Charl returned to cover his face, pretending to weep, even when he had a trick or to left.

"We sure are ..confused?.." Veravakumu returned to his humanoid form, though realized the damage they had caused. Rooftops toppled by Kayu's wind. The ground ruptured by a mild , say mild...earthquake. The gods would hear every detail, of the trouble briught about in the skies of Paris!

"We did not just knock you down to size." Kayu, to V's surprise,returned to Kay's form of Kayumon. His staff of the four winds was ready to spill lightening from its contents. "Talk, imp. " The character above had to bethe same soul, who hated anyone harming his kin. Lori was as precious as Vee to him. They were something of comrades. Lori had gone on a growth quest as well, finding the duo to be a delight. (Story for veil of time series. Wattpad, still in wait.)

 _"Uggh...Fine,fine...poochies._ I will 'talk' ." Charl quoted the mundane word with a droll sound. His fingers as two and two quotation marks by either side of his skull. "I work for ,.the new owner of the dark dog's company-

"You mean , the con man who tied, bagged and gagged me into submission. You have some nerve!-

"Vee, let him confess, everything." Kay shoved the hound back, his eyes more severely offended by the cat's lack of- Kay had been war crazy!? He was one to act!

"Go on. We are going to take you to the Eternal grounds for your-

"Not, a single way to go about my release. " The knight without valor chuckled under his breath. "The council is under a spell. You would be wise to send me elsewhere, as you _say...Capiche?_ -

"Not too sure that's-

"Correct...but a spell you say?.. " Kay looked to a shrugging cat as he then returned his full gaze to Charl. "Let me make a deal. " The brunette knew being daemon could kill. Bargaining with one of such high status, was simple child's play..or murder if you lost the game.

"Ha!" Vee snorted , scoffing by how this could just have been the funiest confession round for a villain's turn around. He was coming back to stab them full of holes! Heck no!

"Say nay, Kay! You know his story this much-

"What is it you are trying to gain by -

"Kay! Don't egg an imp! " Veravakumu warned, not at all warming up to another race..

"I can take you to her, the witch you are asking to find is in Rome. You know that, right canines?"

Charl raised a brow , expecting a reply from these bumbling 'commando' dogs. A ship full of nit-wit officials, and this white haired boy was a laugh riot!

"You should be unaware. Let us have the location, you'll be doing hard the underworld's facility for a life time of criminal acts. "

"Ahh...poor pooch. " Sadly, Charl let out a dramatic sigh before edging towards his belt. "My leader told me of your reluctance. I packed this gadget to , perhaps to have you see, differently.."

Kay dove, but the device was whipped out. A spherical bomb. And a monster timer at that. It had a time going, in days .

"Shit." Vee slapped his brow, Kay's arms pulling back. "How do you deactivate that? We won't go by our powers if you keep this charade going! "

Vee's gulp was obvious by the white fox's bluff. "We..are not going on France's air line route! AAAABSOLLLLUUTELY _NOT!"_ The cat had guessed. "Hide it by invisibility magic." The crafter shifter knew of Kay's trick. "I will stay as that little brat from before. Uncle!"

The form shifted as Charl returned to that face of a seven instead- in a flash with green eyes and a grin that could win in a contest against Lewis Caroll's characters. "Press me again mutts, and Rome won't be the last to fall twice-

"Hey! That's going too!-

"Shut up, Vee." Those angry eyes returned with a controlled fire behind them. Kay brought a hand to his cousin's fuming shoulder. "We have to be good for our...guide." Kay was shaken. He had made a mess and thecrafty imp had pushed. What if the bomb were fake, like this brunette brat's appearance?

"You should have us fly 'first class.' I miss the attention, but as a demon...I may be thwarted by many, oggling madames." He seemed to loath and express his desire to become theirs'. Sick! The masochist in Charl was a chauvenist in another life.

"Lady killer, don't you lay a finger on!-

"Bomb!" The brat echoed a false shout as he reminded the dogs of his leverage. "You cannot tell me how to act. Otherwise, I will take control of the entire flight with my charming..powers." He was a sorcerer now..great..!

"Imp, you have your deal for now, but the moment your antics go against the law-

"White haired foxy does not trust me! Uncle Shooji-

"Upmgh!" The cat swat the kid to the ground, Ami's name a sham to this critter. It was sick, he almost wanted to act against the deal and let the city burn with the demon-

"No, cause Shoji is not here for .You " The fox reminded his cousin with a glare. " Now, off we go to the airport.." He turned a trickster's eye to his dumb cousin again. "Riight?" Those eyes were a fox's. Kay had a plan! ..Or was Shoji supposed to supply the goods?

/

As the heroes shoved off for Italy a go go, a city scene had Raven refuse to turn a blind eye on the venue. A concert Event That had all the hottest names performing. It was outdoors, rain or shine. Yet somehow, Esme and Cliff, had Mysteriously vanished when the heroes had reached the welcome sign. Well, no official welcome without passports.

"We are heroes, we could just tell the -

"And flounce around as celebrities while we are standing here? No thanks , shiela.. " Ron snobbishly turned up his nose to Raven's idea. "I am a celebrity if you had not already forgotten. You thought London was interesting, then wait until the main event."

"Uhh, dog?" Gar wised up to ask. " What do you know that we think we should know right now?"

"Easy, the event here is a palooza. Or more specifically -

"Sanremo!? That's far!" The cast of characters saw Cy's gps and gasped. Miles, from the city...they were near Monaco for gods sake! (Maps was condensed! Will have example explained in next chapter.)

"No! No" Kori as well was startled.

" Here we should not be worrying or losing 'our heads.' Mine is planted over my -

"Yes, but..." Raven looked around. "It's an annual festival, music." She could hear instruments and boy, was it a party! "Oh no.." The lightening dog stepped back. "I cannot be spotted! I'll be shorn to bits! Hide me!-

"Um.. is friend Ronald, ok?" Kori asked, her eyes staring into his cowering ones. Dick wanted to laugh, but the Wayne's kid or ex ...well, he was a target anywhere also.

"I swear, you do not want me to join you. " The fox shook his skull , trying to bring his nerves back to zero. Not..working! "Why the heck not?" Cy exclaimed, confused as to how the dog had been acting so carefree on their way into town. He'd just flipped out too easily!

"Sigh*.." Raven brought herself to float on ahead. "We have to sort out some paperwork. The only one who can teleport right now, is me. I will go and pull some strings. And Richard?Please find Esme and Cliff."

Haru sniffed around with a thought on her mind,then gasped. "They are not here! " She looked around, more annoyed than surprised. "Why did ..oh.." Cy thought and then whispered to his crew. "They are performers too , remember? Bet the earth dog went to shake up the judges. We shouldn't haveta worry."

"Sounds likely, Cliff is a bit showy, Esme especially-

"She's a nereid's child. Um, yes and yes- and no! I will become a labrador retriever before having to set foot on those grounds! No more group air-strikes!"

"Ok! Ok! Ron, we need you so...go and change."

Dick was uncertain if the event allowed dogs, but-

"Sure thing..."

Instead, the oposite went and forced the fox to change, human as possible could be!

He looked to his hands...then growled. "Kaien is in this area. He can stink a mile back to Bristol with that influence ! Damn..my form!" The older dog had prevented Ron from achieving his goal. He was the performer of an indie rock label - Oh boy..

"The ...bracelets are-

"This is embarressing!" Ron turned red, then white and took to grabbing for manifesting a hat. A large one. It only added a steampunk look to the long haired blonde's attire. Shoot!

"You are like a cartoon model! What the heck!?"

"I...will have to stay low, this is a dan-

"But music is joyous!" Kori interrupted. "Why do you speak of violent things to happen if you should become a part of such -

"You'll, find out soon. " Ron dragged a palm across his pretty - boy face. "Just, keep moving , Titans. You will certainly see why I left the stage a few years ago. "

The ominous flow of Ronald's proclamation to come, had the senior Titans on their toes. What was the dog's secret for leaving the ever flourishing music business? When had that all started , and why did it matter now?

The answer came, and Raven picked up her comm unit to add to the fox's prediction.

"We have a rogue spirit , and she's performing. Here, at the Sanremo's February Concert event. "

/

So quickly had her fingers tapped the buttons of the Titan's unit, that the star watching from her auspacious, delux style bus, had heard a nail break off of Aria's slender finger. She knew that the siren had played those heroes well enough to act on her behalf. The songwrite in all but white stopped her fingers from becoming the best - she was already this much on top, no polish could emphasize a growing fan base's love for their pop princess... .

A knock came to the woman's attention, as her silvery eyes glared towards the bus's doorway. An unfit faculty. She would have to just play along for now. Oh well!

"Scusa se interrompo qualcosa, signorina, il tuo spettacolo sar programmato alle due di pomeriggio. Ho ..."

The white haired ex - priestess smiled sweetly to her visitor and replied with a quick snap of her compact mirror shut.

"No no! Hai ragione a darmi fastidio Sono felice che l'evento continui, piova o risplenda ... Per quanto riguarda il concerto finora? Qualcosa, insolito?" She asked, he had paused, then began to study a clip board that contained every performer's name - alphabetically listed.

"Eh, I think...That you will find the Sanremo Festival best right here, the weather is fine for today. We are not without welcome to many tourists, please. You are located usually in? -

"New Zealand , my home was originally in Greece. Such as my parents, they up and fled for an opportunity for their children. I am.. Glad to participate in the festivities as always. " She was pleasent, chatty though still easy to listen to. The venue organizer bobbed his head in thanks, then spoke again.

"Aha, well Signorina. I hope myself to see your staged performance as a sucess with all of our artists at the Sanremo Music Festival. Please, enjoy your experience..I will not have to bother you if you prefer more time to finish preparing."

"Actually.." The virtuoso to the event wondered before the planner could go away , scouting out others to seduce by his sales' pitch. Oh, well...this was a money pit for the party people.

"Do I have some time to take in the scenes, as an incog tourist? I want to try out my costume I'll be using on stage later again two nights from today's opening. "

"Oh, oh! Right, you have a brand new song line up as well. This goes until much later during the days here in Sanremo,, but rest assured. It is right now ten in the morning so..Yes, you may be able-

"Then? " Aggie -G let her hair back before rewarping it to a certainly intoxicating image of a festival goer. "It isn't much.."

Her hair was up in a high tail, waves and extenxions pushing past her face as unruly, wavy ringlets. Her skirt was tight, sequins and a row or two of embroidered stitched ran across the girl's hips. Her top was a long tank that billowed, also sequins and holographic silver..

Her shoes were silver , strappy and also ok for the terrain per the designer's request. (When they invent 'shoes' for all four seasons, I'll be the first in line.)

Her eyes had mascara, though were glittery by her batting lashes. "I may stand out, the lashes are too much." She blushed and returned to her vanity mirror in a seprate area of the bus to lighten her make up. "Au natural! "

"Beautiful, you are going to kill it tonight, Signorina! " The man nodded, very much impressed by retro meeting new age for the pop star's up and coming look.

The light eyed diva looked herself over. She then looked to her ally- for now. "Are you sure it will be warm enough-

"I believe a light jacket should do. " The organizer said. "It will not rain, but this is a lower altitude location by notbeing the 'famous' Umbria' (Region in Italy, not as a town) Event, and this summer we should expect a large crowd by the ratings. Will you be there as well?"

She chuckled to herself. What a fan boy!

"I may, if the turn out is decent, the tickets should sell if my hits are better than last year." The diva in silver smiled, asking if she could pass the older gentleman, her eyes still young and fresh as this new day's , music scene.

Aggie would go as 'Melissa' for now. She felt a strong presence that was not the local quisine- though she could not wait to taste success in another form...

"Victory, and the runner up will not escape capture.." She whispered this before disappearing into asea of festival guests. Attendees with a heart and soul much cleaner, than Agatha's own.

"I saw on his sheet, a duo or something...two europop starter twins...rather, an exotic couple of fish." She spoke of Esmeralda and Cliff as the sorceress mingled with her seas of up and coming fans. "And on that note, the heroes of Earth must be here. " She looked around, eyes searching in vain. No, nothing. They had to be further by the entrance yet.

"Just you wait, Ronald was my dear competition in the challenge we both had bested to belong to...wonder why he disappaared before that Daia brat?"

Her accent was of both Greece and the New Zealand dialect.(just by her alibi and how she has a plan tol piss off Ron eventually. Nothing too rich. This was a low carb diet location( just a comparision with the other places she is hoping to overthrow. London being the place she avoids due to Catalina and Cici's influence with the council. Rome, by how the concert is farther away for a reason to stall the heroes. Siren's call? Pretty easy to trick the new generations. She is clever, though vain all the same.) - compared to the heroes' bustling, San Francisco.

"Welcome to Italy with love, from your old friend...oh..Ravenna? I hope your magic is enough to toss me aside thrice." She giggled and slipped over towards the food stalls'. They were still not up with the sun . Not yet. Her night owl Hecate was watching, always disappointed in her Lady of the Delphi unit. How very unsavory for the crone. She would be watching to balance tip, as the witch had always predicted it would in time.

/

As the bells of a large church chimed from the diatant window of one particular resident, the day had awoken in Rome. Ah, the city was more a central pillar and wildly praised for all it supplied..

Lao Ming had dressed as her heart desired, with her tail in the air and in her element. Now,the underworld of this city couldonly spell out where Cici had gone. This, Daia chick remained an enigma to the Tenkit, exiled, assassin's daughter.

"Her scent is far away from me.. not unlike wise tricksters. Not even that silver fox daemon from Japan." Kaede was on Lao Ming's hit list . That fox had drained her power with such a keen darkness in her heart. They were enemies, yet maybe not..

"Where? Where must I find the maiden ? She throws off her scent, her presence is dead yet..." Lao Ming sniffed again as no one seemed to mind. A smart human would be suspicious. These folk were careful yet not willing to be hurt themselves without reason. Everyone ignored the short cat kin. Her appearance now human to blend in, her face nothing as a local, yet no one seemed to act unkindly. Each shop owner had a warm face towards paying customers and even locals like himself..This place was too hot to handle, kindness..warmth...it was draining to the cat . It made her think too much about her past.

While Lao Ming focused on a way to gather information, she saw from the corner of her cat's eyes, a shop..Not just any shop however.

"Oh!" She squealed happily. "Solo Furtuna!" Just her luck that a metaphysics shop had come into view . That meant a seer, a seermeant clues uncovered for a small fee!

The cat dove into her purse- fabricated by manifestation arts, and saw that a good wad of cash would coverany expenses. "Marcus is kind to his comrades!" She grinned before taking to the slim knob. The door opened, with the room as a new age store front of oddities. Maybe, the wrong place..

A woman came from the back of the shop with shells jangling as she made her way over to a potential customer. Folk magic, close, but maybe too weak to work...Her hair was dark with mild grys, mid aged. Her clothing looked drab as prayer scarves covered her frame. Grey and blck as ifa session had ended. While also, she had a head scarf to keep her face clear and set on the next world, maybe. Her eyes were sweet and green,her face worn yet awake for the sake of her customers.

She clasped her hands together by her navel and smiled down to Lao Ming with a calming voice.

"Benvenuto! Benvenuto, e benedetto sia a te." The woman said in full Italian. She then laughed softly by how rushed her words had seemed to a foreigner.

"Stai semplicemente girando la citt ... oh, perdona la mia curiosit . Lao Ming understood and mustered up her lungs to speak without stuttering.

"Grazie, vengo da qualche parte ... in vacanza! Funziona, ma questo negozio sembra impressionante. Scusa scusa! Io sono ... parli-

"Do...English, it is common for tourists."The woman answered, seemingly alright with the slight pause.

"Si, yes." Lao Ming said. "I..am and would like to know if you perform...divinations ."

"Ah, yes, my name if you are curious is Angelina. I do..card readings, the occasional palm sessions. Tesography classes are held weekly. Are you familiar perchance with scrying-

"I would like to know if...future predictions can be-

"No, no. I am not a fairy tale strega by knowledge, you will find that certain!" She laughed a little by the request. Lao Ming had an idea that this woman had hereditary blood, so maybe...a psychic boost?

"I have some knowledge of the art. Would I be able to ask more on your services ...for a thirty minute session? I will add more minutes if the session exceeds the limit. There is som-

"Oh, so sorry. If you think predictions happen for a person's reson, not by fate..then I am afraid that my services will be useless to you otherwi-

"I know the craft...come out cat demons! I am tired of waiting to act!"

The shadows of big beasts arose from places in the dark . A shiver ran up Angelina's spine as she saw her breath. Yep, a witch unfulfilled , but still a useful tool. Lao Ming stepped back as her wrist rose to bring magical light with it.

"My energy is of envy. I hate being denied a right to look around. Besides!" The cat clan daemon smirked with Angelina's psychic senses going haywire .

"Tea leaves are not a very full-proof prediction method. They can mean that the sky is here today. Or gone tommorow. Stick to your, playing cards. That builds up your psychic strength far greater than any tannin in a cup."

Her wrist moved to fix around the folk woman's aura. Twisting her own energy with a snake's coil around each limb, the woman cried out. Angelina's power was still dormant as a human's. "Aaahh! Why are...you here!?-

"Huh?" Lao Ming then realized this trap. The ground swallowed her up, the miasma had another master...

With a floating arm of 'Angelina's ' , the folk witch surprised the Tenkit cronie with a grin. "I have you in my web, cat !"

"Aah! No! No! You..you are!-

"You have me, now say my name !" The seer was not a sale's employee or owner, she was magical and with a true face!

~C-C-At!-

"Too late!" It was , as the liquid trap dropped Lao Ming into another cell somewhere underneathand between those two voids. "DAIIIAA!" She screamed as the door shut on the cat's freedom. Yes, a 'Daia.'

Though, which one?..

The sorceress sighed and looked at the shop. What a mess! The miss brushed back her golden locks from becoming a hassle to keep down. "Oh,.dear gods...at least the cat is not going to cause a scene much longer." The one behind the attack had to be a powerful mage herself, as the blue eyes of Lady Catherine scoped out the space for any traces of dark magic.

"Finally, I can return without hesitation." She did not raise her hood again, instead, Lady Daia decided to meet with her company where the Tenkit girl was being held. It was about time for a reunion between the clan - child and parent.

/

Well away into the city, Rome's greatest treasure, a home for the pope himself, housed many secret rooms( for plot! Just fantasy!)

An organization brooded within those walls, over their governing saint's orders. She had fled to catch a rat- one capable of wiping out its enemies through its marvelous transformation. The one whom they feared and were wary about, would strike again. If he could find them . Their powerful leader had erased a part of the demon's memory of their haunt. He would eventually recover with that new found hatred in tow..

A darkly clad woman tapped her fingers against the seat wherest she sat, mumbling through stacks of useless documents. In order to be a part of this congregation for her kin's sake, she had to work many hours to finish the pope's tasks. It was, a fair enough agreement by far. The girl's light blonde, whispy bob shook from side to side as her pen flew from left to right, across every unsigned page.

With another , unintended sigh, right before any had dared to knock, the blonde rose from her seat.

Her remained eyes hidden by wirey strands as she walked towards the room's door to open it-

"Dear Athena!" The visitor did not even make a sound until he saw her face . It was haggard as she glared, trying to have the cowardly messenger state his case.

"I am sorry to approach you , and with the pope's agreement so brutal...oh..Our council of the Seven Sages is restle..well, they are impatient..Don't worry! I have -

"Do nothing , let them wait." The blonde said this , her voice without joy or praise. She was a mess from so many nights of unsigned documents in her lap.

What an old coot!

"Oh." The character was not easily seen by their grey hood covering most of their features. It was the middle of the night. Her leader of the cult's sect had not slept to her shock.

"Then, I shall confront them. " The girl had an accent that as neither new nor proper. The cult should have not existed in today's era, yet they did somehow by sheer luck and what their princess had inherited upon her return.

"Mistress, has Lady...Catherine, herself returned by -

"I do not expect her to be quick." Cici shook her head slowly, readying to shut the door. "You, were expected back , so you should be that example. Catalina is late. Good night then." With a yawned cupped and her eyes closed in the process, Cici would have to connect to the pope's line to ask for some decent shut eye. Her endevour would continue at day break.

It was inhumane to not sleep sound, not when one had to. Or regardless of their responsibilities, onehad to recover and reflect. It was only natural tothink this way.. The pope miraculously had to agree, as the blonde leader of her sect added a thank you in the figure's native tongue. He was for her purposes of remaining unseen - should the Underworld council fall to pieces with their executive being long gone.

"Mother, you are too cruel to me.." The woman sighed and set herself over to the guest room, where sleep beconed her on a fine mattress of downy feathers. "This, Cecilia Daia would have balked at the idea of sleeping ...well, their secrets are not my goal to expose. "

She spoke of the tainted history of the church, dating well back to the era or Rome's beginning..A bull god and many , many ills...(conspiracy related back to the cults of ancient Rome, just for Cici to remember by her time being closer to that past. (Before Byzantine era.) (Typo I am sure..) She has been away for a thousand years too many since Lilith had brainwashed Cecilia into forgetting her first home. She thinks it is different, yet belives that the new country's image constantly through time has covered up its faults to remain a top influence along with the political gains or privaleges...no more!.. simple minded Cici...Rabbit hole had me a sec. Tangents are ugly reminders to slow down.) (Oh, and the spirit world means Cecila forgets that the 'human past' here was not her Spirit worlder's one.. She lived on an alternate plane so..superiority complex much? ? Yipes..back to the arc!)

"Only, they will forget, we of the Council to Hecate remember every gory detail...yaawn! My, my! That late already?" The princess rubbed her worn eyes and looked towards a wall clock, set as this place was an oddity without modern simplicities.

As she laid down to think over and reflect on the day's events, Miss Daia remembered why she was not always respected by her mother's..sacred element. "My kind dwell with the 'dark moons and the realm of souls'...Catalina, is bound of Alicia's magics...I do wonder if that Lisa girl is keeping my sister company." Her question fell away into the night. The city asleep as that Sunday had proven itself , as only the beginning for the young sorceress.

/

Revealed, and this is only the start.

The character whom the council of Cici's recalls is a shape shifter.. That is why his presence created a problem as the Celestials were warned - Lady Light is not safe. Charl already was revealed as Skylar Thompson's dopple imposter.

The Titans are at a real event, look it up! Aggie-G is sort of a 'Jessie J' but I won't tell!* Lao Ming was found and cast out by the powerful sorceress of the Sect of Solaris - Catherine Daia, possibly on the run from her pursuers...yet Cici has an idea as to why her mother took the job of blending in as a shop keep. "You are too cruel to me," states that Cici is working by her mother's orders. Cecilia is the heiress after Catherine now, after Alicia's time expired while being now a second soul within Aiden's former classmate, Lisa Viscado.

A few more characters , the grey hooded sect affiliate , no name for the moment; the pope is just a figurehead- I would like his charcter to remain only a distant phone call away kinda guy, and of course, the event in Sanremo.

The incog Agatha, is dressing down to win over the Titans- will her plan work? Fyi, they had only met Agatha in the past, so this new charcter has her frame, though has more dark powers than Raven- if not evenly matched.

Aggie G will be likely, a spy for her boss , Marcus. Also, she will have a show to perform, one in the afternoon, the other two nights from the concert's opening day. When the shadows are everywhere- her powers will be very strong then. So, can the famous Ravenna bring her pupil to see the error of her ways? Will our heroes ever locate Cecilia in Rome?

Find out in chapter seven(flubbed up so I have to fix number order of chapters, again...! Read on for more and staaay curious! Fyi, this was chapter six despite error with prologue. All ready to read the next !


	8. Chapter 8

Teen Titans; New Generations; The Manifesto Pages- Storyteller Arc; Chapter 7: - Fine By Me - Dirty Little Secret - We Own The Night -

Since music is the main event here in this arc's tale to tell, I decided to go with a title that used songs as the basis. It will not copywrite anything since its just to add to the festival's goings and comings in Sanremo. (Typo?)

The rest will fall into place- Melissa; Agatha of the Delphi Agents no more , and Ron , who has a tall tale of his own...

With so much to look forward to, I have forgotten the snow falling outside my window. Cannot wait till spring . Hope you are not far behind me in that respect- so, here we go again!* Another media inspired pun to quote.

/

As Ava assumed the guise and cloak of her mother's clan, Tellervo stood with a frown.

Her features hiding her appreciation for all her task had laid before this princess, beginning a quest now to return to earth with her brother...

The wolf clan of the vast, Aurora Borealis tundra had aided in this ordeal, saying that their territory would not be an easy pass to cross across. Ava would go with Aiden tothecave of the sacred , a place where portals were known to impregnate themselves in the thick crystal spires of the world's domain.

~At times like these, my only warning can ever be that you not follow the crows- their reckless tricks are of flying higher than the moon. So, whatever you should find, be it a way inside the cavenous mouth , or a drop from its cliff side on high, I bare my word that the crows are simply inexperienced with becoming guides for mortals...many will not understand. You must , princess...~

Tellervo was the parent besides Isa in which Ava trusted , since coming to this magical realm without any knowledge in hand. The wolves had been her look outs,her all seeing eyes,the ravens for their homes to always be nearby. The deer and caribou were very mellow, only when left alone. They kept the wolves fed even with blessings from the raven-winged still returning to find Ava's beacon shining in the distance.

~Ave, we have to go. Are you ready?~ Aiden's question raised the girl's spirits. She smiled back , greeting her brother with a better disposition in his sibling than earlier. ~Yes, and Chris said he'll help us reach the cave. Small paw will be joining once we reach the line between the Aurora and Barrens. ~ She turned to Tel,ervo who smiled down to her shorter allies.

~Yes, and I will keep watch in time for your return tothis world. May the pixie by the way, sends her greetings as always.~ The deity added. Ava grinned back with a beaming smile. ~Tell her if you could, that I won't be long. We will have to meet with her new fianc .~

~K, but-

~Right now, Aiden.~ Ava raised a brow, declaring that they would be ready soon. ~ I am a princess, and I know how to greet people fairly. May is our ally. So don't forget that fight she did her best to save us both in-

~ Ar..yeah...~ Aiden blushed and remembered the blue bell pixie with her air of a lady to be. She was full of spunk. No wonde she and Ava got along. Positive reinforcement! In a way, he was glad for his sister's friends not being too far away . Aiden missed having someone to boss him...oh! Yuck! No go!

~Ready?~ Ava leaned in to see the flushed, reddish blonde teen deep in one of his awkward moments.

~Should I leave you-

~L-Let's go!~ Aiden stammered before stomping after Christopher towards the castle throne room's exit.

~He'll never change! Same old kid brother.~ Ava chuckled as she looked over to speak with Chris...her cheeks suddenly grew too pink for her own good.

~Eh..he...yeah. He's ...ok! We are done, take care Tellervo!~ Ava called behind her , the deity was waving back with her long, blonde strands and green robes of an earthen deity showing in the light of the rising moon.

~Be well on your journey, princess. This kingdom shall stand upright in my care. No harm shall befall all Reia has entrusted to we winter children.~

The doors solidly shut with Tellervo to her task. Ava with her crew had a lot of catching up to do. Hecateand Hel had apparently fought below the plates. The news had been Tellervo's message to add to the firey pile - the bon fire Ava had to wait for until it turned into blackened charcoal.

~Just in case...~Tellervo had seen the princess and the formerly possessed Christopher- a former fae of Reia's allies whom had been reincarnated. Yet the worry was not of the boy, his power over the princess was something , strange.

~Not love, it was something ...clan of the trickster! ~

The first of Ava's examples had been to avoid interaction with the crow clan. That had not been a lie, however...

~I _summon the **Raven.** Bird of great mystery and the unforeseen dead-lands of magic's beginning..and consequential end... Hear my call unto your_ kindread spirit!~

The dark - arts bird arrived in an array of dreams- of dreams was something of Hecate's or Hel's lesser domain- yet not Wodin. He had Tellervo's rear covered, her back even as a distant cousin to the Nordic clan and king's kin.

 _~You called_ out to me? As I dream of a dream far greater than that of the _living?~_

~Tricks, not the trade I would have taken ye for.~ The deity sighed as the totem of Raven descended. Its wings were stronger and wider than the normal earthen drawn birds'.

It had piercng orange eyes, fire not yet buring, only ebbing as it saw the outcome of all. Unlike the wolves, it did not have the luxury of a pack to greatly amplify this lonesome spirit's power over the unseen lands.

Not many, the Raven clans folk were as crow, which was nomadic heavily by how many flew to meet in the sky - as clouds darkening the air in which all life lived through winter. This lady Raven was not so in number. It lived, a quiet life and she now had been summoned from that peace to define another's livelihood. The crone in her knew better. The maiden wished to learn of her fate further.

~You take on the form of your totemic strength. ~ Tellervo pointed out. The raven crature in spirit pruned its feathers as it craawked in reply. ~I have no need for a form on all fours, or on hairless limbs. My legs are well enough to carry me. I prefer wings over fingers. We are to our desired selves, those whom hover at close range to humans as their guides..or had...~

This bird , it seemed be battling some area of discontent , especially today. Tellervo wondered if the offense by Hecate had disturbed its rest firstly. She decided not to force the bird to reveal why. That was no more important than what Wodin would dine on into Asgard and back.

~The crow , she was not alarmed by the Grecian mother's craft?~ The bear deity asked. The greater black winged bird bobbed its skull, turning then to walk on those talons to the side where the room's exit stood.

~You have intentions, bear of Sweden's clansmen?~

~I do, and all that and much more.~ Tellervo tried to add, her time here extended far too long.

~Well, you prefer my trickster - state.~ The raven clicked its tongue, another sound abruptly made by the bird's annoyance of its fellow allies.

~No, a guise that will remain a trick to the eyes of my suggested charges as..a guide else place. ~

~You intend to scout, yourself, not to stay here?~ The bird saw all. Tellervo sighed as if she had been beaten at her own game.

~Skadi had the north foreve...oh...forgive my tongue.~

~Ah, the man wrote his heart to pieces. I was a prop, that never was held in lowest regard by that human's poetry. He revered and feared my message. ~ The raven shook its head. ~ Comical, that was all, sorrowful..as his unsung spirit had since been laid to rest.~

~I see..then you may know the children of the golden dragon . We deity intend to help them onto the path in which they seek. Will you not comply to this agreement?~

~Knowng you all only stop me from breaking our bargain, why did you expect nothing less?~ The creature cocked its head to the side curiously.

~Then you had...oh, the rest is as it should be.~ Tellervo shook her head and smiled inside a bit by hergood fortune on the agreement with such a bold character. She was just amazed by how the bird had already seen the outcome so quickly.

~My form, will you change as well?~ The raven asked. Its eyes were certanly curious as to wha the deity of Sweden would say. ~I ..the bear is too vulnerable. Could ..-

~Child,…~ The raven rose into mid air and began to lose its shape. ~You are to know, we have much to discuss.~ The raven knew where this was going. It gave in for Reia's child's sake. In a full burst of energy, the creature revert to a form more useful- the humanoid of this wise bird of prey's inner or rather, desired aspect.. A seer to the northern countries.

~Ingnyu Byrbassan.~ The creature introduced the title of its new form. A human woman , yet a spirit being of magic . She was draped in the feathers of a raven's shhen- the cloak was her set of wings. Underneath were boots , as she walked, clothed in deer skin and a couple rabbits' pelts. The clothing the maiden wore was of a tan buck. Her headress had the teeth of foxes as they were draped by her brow. A wreath of feathers and bone. The underworld and beyond was her territory. Her youth was forever spent in another time, this form was of Tellervo's aspect. A mother and protector, never the maiden.

~Ingnyu. Why are you certain that this form will not?-

Tellervo was quieted by the yellow and tawny eyes of the woman totem bearer.

~The raven totem energy I bear will have by it the mindful- speak , the ability to shift as my kin is here as a tool to reach your charge.. As you say ? Do you not agree with this choice?~

Tellervo shook her head again. Now knowing she had offended a great spirit messenger , without a doubt..

~Nay! Ye have, the ageless wisdom of thy kindred spirit. ~

~Your words confuse, yet the day is beginning anew.~ The winged creature was ready to transport herself to look out after the princess and her charges.

~I will contact you shortly, a favor was to be by Wodin's word. Skadi and I are to return to Hel's domain at once. ~

~Did you withold that you would be guarding Ava's palace?~ The raven cocked her head to the side. She must have doubted the woodland bear too quickly, earlier on.

~I have May coming to advise, and there are folk here whom have contact with Aluehainyu if need be the case. ~

~I do hope for you quest to be a sure footed venture. Will Wodin not act?~ The bird was about to open a portal to the other side, where the princess would be parting to return to earth.

~He is wary.~ Tellervo said. ~Freya was not reborn, the only living power is of the Universal sect. He, Wodin, was not well for a time when Ava had been denounced as the goddess's reincarnate.~

~She is of the priestess's olden clan. ~ The raven maiden spoke. Her thoughts readying for the journey onwards.

~Yay. She is a catalyst towards the Barren's revival. ~ Tellervo felt sorry for Ava. The girl was still forced to deal with so much on her plate already.

~Let Aneiu too know that the truce holds firm.~ Tellervo called to the now, departing form of the totemic spirit, Ingnyu Byrbassan. Her full name was many names, this was only one form of many throughout time and space. The rickster, the one whom saw what others could not hope to grasp.

A magician at best.

~May the gods be by your aide, the spirits strong within and beside us.~ Ingnyu smiled back before dropping down and through the portal's edge. Tellervo bowed a brief thanks, her staff was the item to close that god foresaken portal lastly.

/

In the city of Paris on earth...

Two bumbling, cat and fox, were without an answer.

The only way to avoid a catastrophe this soon, was to ship their hostage ( whom was as quick as a whip, and had a fairly sharp tongue), to the next destination of these supposed officials'.

Kay, was containing his rage for the final strike. If the exiled knight and lackie of this 'Manifesto' bloke decided to high tail it - the fox would shear his first sheep of the timeline's return. And his return to it would not be wasted in the least...

Shoji, had to change his face to keep from becoming a target . His face was both as a criminal spy, and as a corporate giant's president ( executive, head honcho beside his bosses .) Ayane had to be safe...she was a tough cookie to beat, and knew her way around the building like she owned it! As if he knew where the employee lounge even was...there were a couple , even parties Takahara had missed...well, no time to have your cake and eat it. Sacrifices had to be made.

And one, very dishonest crook was to be escourted personally by the hound and his cousin.

Charl had the form still of that brunette child. Yet shifter imps had the ability to keep their forms based off of their rank. Charl had to be a royal pain in the imp's under realms. If that were currently the case on Air France, the tresspassers were in cahoots with a devious criminal. One still maintaining its false image to fool the public.

~You have _no_ such class, I cannot change back..~ Charl shrugged with a defiant snort*.

~ _Annd,_ yet? _Oh..you_ cannot show your true face to anyone. _Pity,_ eh doggie?~ The mind speak made Kay's hair stand up by how the boy had deliberately insulted the con-cat beside them.

~We..bought first class _ticket...Why_ is he still acting like!?-

~Dumb question, cuz.~ Shoji mind spoke with a lean back into his reclining seat. "Didn't you fly like a prince **plenty** of times?"

Kay rubbed the back of his neck and answered in a mutter. "Yeah, but it was only when, we had to avoid the press. Sayu was a real snob in public..back when she went for her 'men's' throats."

The other passengers, though few, were able to hear the last sentence. One coughed and continued to read a newspaper as if this were his private jet. Idiotic. They could all agree on one thing; first class wasn't all that bad, but it had no real use to any of them, not even for basic 'entertainment purposes for the duo's 'nephew.' The rest was for security, privacy. The reason to shield your eyes from the obvious, seemed outrageous a choice to both, however..Tharp held the trigger.

"Cinema!...A film is playing!" Charl's child-voice pipped up, as the cat tried to ignore the brat's request.

"No. " Shoji grunted with a blanket now covering his shivering form. Casual, was not winter in Paris. The states would be cold , average and never about eighty degrees until spring.

It was Italy the group was after, not Titans Tower. After all, Cici had sent her message loud and clear to meet in Rome.  
"I think that your antics will lose their affect on us soon enough." Shot the sneering fox as he glared into young 'Charl's' disappointed face.

The boy then, began to cry.

"You!..are...damned little.. bloody!" The fox wanted to howl but the plane was facing a few bumps of its own.

 _"Shhh!_ Hush, hush! Kay! You have to go and watch the movie with him since you just acted like a total!-

 _"Aalright!"_ The white fox whined and grabbed the youth's hand, pulling him over to the seating area where a loud enough movie was just barely starting. Shoji had won really. Charl had technically been a victim..weird..

"Say, what film is this-

 _ **~Oh**_ **no!~** Shoji bolted from his seat, though he was too late. His decision had rot , a badapple among the -

Charl used his trump card, his hidden motives after the zombified, now sleeping passengers were revealed to be in dreams of the demon's making. Shoji turned pale in comparison to his red blooded cousin's heated expression. His face was full of mana, his blood rocketing past the plane's destination. Kay,was unable to attack. He was a firey explosion waiting to burst.

"Let _me_ control the trip's _decent...perks,_ and your _hostages_ will meet the ground _soon enough."_ Smirking with thelarge cinamatic screen to the child's side, young Charl had the upper hand over the disobedient hounds.

 ** _"You...runt!"_** The fox beared his fangs, though Shoji shouted in protest, with a yell that shut his cousin's lips tight as a desert tomb.

"You heard that!?" He gripped Kay's shoulder from behind the fox's fox- fire engulfed skull. Whisps of magic were ever present. Kay had to leave, or his spirit would...

"We could end up framed for a crime of. ... terrorism! So don't mess with him...just.." He hated to speak right now. Talk was cheap ..but.. No, he had to have his voice heard by this..muscle headed preppy, prince!

"I...can't believe this..." The white fox grit his fists and wanted to rile up in a frenzy, all of his bottled emotions. His eyes turned away. Kay stood directly in view of the smirkimg boy. The fox's feet jutted about as the plane took to higher altitude travel , briefly.

"He is a _smart_ doggie!" The mock-voice of Charl's made Shoji's face turn pink with frustration. Ami was not even this obnoxious on a daily basis! Just, energetic, a dopey kid.

"Yes, I will be able to stay your nephew, for as long as my life is here on your plane. Listen to your relative." Charl said this to Kay, who had his eyes still digging daggers into that brat's was a useless attempt, though bold.

 **"Hah!** He is _definitely_ the 'smartest one' of you both!" The grinning, cheeky insult of that child sparked the worst temper tantrum in Kay..

But, the earthen plane was a plane he could not remain for long. He refused to lose control this early into their journey. His spirit would be sullied for sure.

The imp knew this, yet goaded his captors well enough to play his cards right. They, his aces in the hole. He the puppeteer.

Not as one sound mind. Yet as two, bickering adults of another space and time, the foes were duped.

"What movie is the flight showing?" Kay felt his throat go dry as he asked this with a hoarse croak, seating himself slowly into a vacant row by the large screen.

Charl thought in silence with his eyes scanning the place over. "Humm.. the title ..." He thought, aggitating the cat and fox with a lengthy pause. Pure torture in Kay's case.

"Not a very good one...I think ' _**L'assaut**_ ' from nine years ago?" (Note; actual film called The Assault. Irony on the plot if you read on say, imdb . I was shocked by that as well. Included Air France so...Hope to not offend. Chapter will be quick and no damage. Spoiler since its a hostage situation in 'fiction.' With magical characters...I rest my case. Back to the let dow- I mean, plot twist?)

Shoji's jaw dropped but Kay's voice remained in a tight trap , hinged and never once did it interrupt his cousin throughout their enitre flight.

A bumpy journey, indeed. The cat dropped his head down into his sweating palms. He had a headache from the altitude shift. Great.

"I, think I'll need some more dramamine.." He knew it was not to late to buzz the flight staff for a glass of water. Water..on a first class plane...the irony again!...His absolute horror,when Takahara had been barred from his own corporate office! This Manifesto was a crooked fella. He could raise hell-

Zombies too.

"Pronto..gotta look up.." Takahara groaned softly as the answer, came far too soon to celebrate.

And, hopefully no risky dives would be needed into the stratosphere. Kay was already a live wire and wating to bring down the ceiling. Another, major migraine to come...Just 'fantastico!' They would burn up in mid landing ..what a way to travel...

/

The concert was just a start. It was two days, this the second - being only after our heroes had found an ally in SanRemo to call..

"So, the office where Nina had us ...is _this_ the place?"

The teens left; being Dami and perhaps a very nervous Ron, had to decide whom to trust with directions. Italy was pretty wide and diverse . From cities, the mountain peaks, forests and villages into the modern times, the country was charming more than once a glance for our young heroes-

"Her title or rank is more a peace keeper like Nina. Though, Ronald?" Raven said as the lightening dog picked up some..discontent with his two ears.

"Yes, she is..an old ally of my uncle's. We-

"Can we trust her!?"

"Yes! She is _not_ a lackey! Let me finish!" Ron glared at Gar who lowered his pointed ears with a frown.

"She is an elemental, like your guardians. That is why we are close."

Dick thought about Hecate's spat and Kaien's mild ...betrayal..

"But what if she is not the only person you can contact? " Kori added after her husband's looks faded a moment.

"She is not one for foul play, I am sure that no one else will be closer than he is currently. "

Damian tried to remember that his sunglasses were on, as he fiddled uncomfortably with his civilian wear.

"If she talks,we should-

"You two!" Cy slapped a hand acrosshis face, then recognised instantly, his leader's uncertain gaze.

"I gotta say, you still act like someone's out for your head . Slade's gone, he took off and won't come back. The villains we fought aren't like the spirit we've been fighin' since the dumb dragon showed his face. He's gone too, Dick! So lighten up enough to not be so..."

"Mellow-dramatic?" Koi accidently said just the opposite of what she had hoped. Was her husband just as paranoid as his fellow, current brother, the new Robin?

"I am just being semi- realistic." The heroic cop groaned by how they were on his case, never wantijng a bad copto re emerge...nice..

"Well, let me do what I can to convince her then. " Ron cleared his throat to respond, without hesitation.

"Done, Dick? You can't go against anyone. Right now, we are limited for places to bunk before it's lights out. " Richard did not know if Cy's lights out meant curtains for earth. He tried to put it from his mind, though wondered what this new ally would be like.

"Fine, I stepped down as the Titans' leader when, when my kids came and changed Kor and I for the better."

Starfire was no longer an active member. She was however a civilian with her own family to protect. It felt strange, she did still have a chance to return, but that train had left a few years ago. Ava had not even forgotten the Tameranean's sigh as the phone line had stopped ringing.

"Well, what do we do now that Rae's gotten us in as tourists?" Gar asked this, knowing that Azar's star ex- demoness had worked her magic on foreign soil. Her presence had not scared a soul, which thankfully left Rachel Roth herself in abetter mood. Raven's venture had even been still within the system's allowence since the heroes were Titans.

But as far as legal matters, the rest would unfold soon enough. If the heroes stepped out of line even briefly,they would be sent back, empty handed and their team banned forever...

That as not going to happen under the empath's watch, she had decided. Dick was going to have to sooth his paranoia , enough to act like a decent tourist.

"Ok, so...we have a spot she'll be by. Let's see...nice digs!" Ron frowned by the slang usage of Cy's word for a home..

Yet thankfully, this ally they would be meeting with, was an 'on the road , special ops' sort of soldier.

The Titans had no idea that Astarte or Sara Santigo was watching over the team from her post. Ron had made sure to keep that a big secret so far.

The residence's main clip-board by the entrance was signed, post haste. A guide led the team soon towards a lavish lounge full of guests chatting and eating. This had to be the place.

The quaint, country side inn had been localised for tourism, and was home to the owners of the curiously located resort. The space for dining on the side was for those staying or simply passing through. It was converted from what looked to be an old villa of some rich family of another time.

The scaffolding and decor was an interesting sight. Historic painting littered the rooms, even as the guests dined with shades of white, green, orange, red, and blue to the setting - as the lights setting this image turned our heroes' attention towards tiny stage. A piano and a few smaller instruments played as the diners dined. Wine was being served for those who could not speep a wink.* The desserts were finer than gourmet. They were the sort where your mouth watered right in the door just from a whiff of one cake slice. The kitchen was close,so the resident owners were certainly thoughtful people.

And the smell was as if another plane had been their destination- ungodly aromas that sent the heroes into a scent coma upon their first entry into the dining room. The one to greet the group had been an older man in his best suit, the seating clerk (as it was had orders to bring the few to a table by the back room.) A draped display that overlooked a peaceful, valley and all its splendors was to the side for prominant guests only. It showed a sight of the ridge in which the town was located, thecity bright with a life all its own.

"Act natural, but do not raise your voice . " Ron whispered to Richard from behind, which had the hero nearly jump in surprise. He had a mind not to, as Batman's former, protege .

"She, is a very strong person, more so a tough one compared to Astarte or even Isa combined." Dick nodded and tried to hide his reaction with an uncommon shoulder roll.

The mysterious character the heroes expected to greet, came into view finally. The dress she wore shone as sleek as the person's glamorous aura.

"Miss, the guests you had been expecting have arrived. Will they be joining you this evening, Signora?"

~Was she married?~ The empath wondered as the woman had almost a more sophisticated stance than Aria...

The woman was notably tan from a former , summer event with her employer's squad. Dubai had been nice and hot, but Israel had not been bad either ..(She had a job within the middle east then went as a tourist to grab a tan. Her origin will be revealed shortly.

Her hair was black, yet a sheen of violet as dark as Raven's aura graced it through her highlights , as well as her eyes to match held the same hue.

Those strands to mortals shone back as long , wavy strands..

Many deity liked long hair as it was a symbol of their power and status. This was common for those in myth such as dragons and magicians in their prime years.

She had on a dress that sloped by the front to ..well, it was alright since she did not care to show off her body for any one suitor.. Her style was long and slim, with tone to her taught limbs. Her well defined shoulders balanced the rest of the woman's semi-muscular built, rather well.

She had a hidden tattoo on her ankle, with her shoes relatively..pointed and tied as sandals bearly up to her knees . Those heels that could drive men and women mad ( should I be less dramatic?) matched the dress, while awe stricken Kori nearly gasped aloud by the woman's fashion sense..

It was trange to consider , yet the woman's eyes were as Sara's. As an animal, waiting to sink jaws her into the vixen's first victim.

"Oh, yes that would be just fine." She smiled to the ushered waiter as he skidded away from her domineering gaze, even in her best of moods to day...

Her lips had a coat of lipstick that mached her tone perfectly, with her earings as mini silver and crystal chandeliers by her perfectly rounded ears. Why was she not a siren or something tomatch her attitude?

"Greetings to you, friends." She stood and introduced herself with a graceful flow of her own words. Gar could have sighed, yet her was in another country illegally. No cat calls either! Lack of class!

"My name is, First Leuitenant( argh...fixing later...swollen jaw here) Vespa Loretta, De Luca . " She was upfront about her approach as her rather toned arm directed the team to seat themselves by her table. The waiters immediately brought more seats. By that hour, the meeting began well off , into the town's mildly pleasent evening the Titans hoped to discuss a great deal with their newest compatriot.

"Miss, Vespa..." Ron gulped as his words came with just the perfect timing . He opened his jaw to respond.

"How has your squadron held? You do, recognise Solario's-

"My! You have grown well, little cousin! Oh...how silly of me. Where did my manners go.." Raven noted to herself that Miss De Luca had an accent as well. "I am also not from the area."

Raven stood still as if her mind had been read. Vespa had her direct attention on the Titans- the empath became heavily suspiscious, though waited to blow the whistle on their 'new ally.'

Any friend of Kaien's was bound to get tem into some sort of trouble.

"My family did travel before I took to a fifth citzenship in Sanremo. " Vespa's voice and accent were then from this culture, and of multiple others..

The rest was as if they were not only guests, yet allies before having set foot inside the inn. Could the miss have been a regular here in this very spot?

"My last position had been in Tel Aviv. My second family of my Papa's is there . 'Mi' mamma is currently busy with the elementals' position of Esperion-

~Esperion...is that..~ Raven wondered why that word had some kind of ring to it. And not only, Vespa had improper use of the Italian language. Was she really a full blown citzen so suddenly?

"You did tell these fine friends of your's my title? " Vespa asked Raven as her hands gripped lightly, her Vino and a plain biscotti - the only dessert she could have this late at night as an adult.

"They are familiar roles, yet not by your post there as a Celestial ! Cousin." She crunched the biscuit cookie between her teeth and then chewed slowly, before taking another swig of her drink.

"Sigh.. not a great time to normally explain these things." Ron tried to clench his jaw as Vespa tore him mentally down. Subtlety was a well know weapon.

The swirling of her glass meant a thought, or a pause. Richard brought up a finger carefully to interject..

"Question; Ron, you are of lighteing and thunderstorms." The pup's ears pricked up, confused before letting Richard continue.

"Veravakumu is an elemental of the Underworld and of darkness by his affinity to it...and his curse." The two elementals at the table nodded.

" Kaien was reincarnated as a Volcano god, but has the form, of Apollo of Ancient Greece. Esme is..or was Aphrodite. She is a ...nereid I guess, right Rae?"

"I don't know about her 'other' form very well.. Oh, Cliff embodies the element of earth and geological events or occurences...still not clear, Aria is water and air, I think, but water I thought was Esme's element... " The empath wondered if not all of the guardians held the forms of mammals from other universes.

"That diva still fights with Aria over their parents' status apparently , that.. guess we can all just discuss some other time, dudes and dudettes. " Gar was right as Raven prided his extended growth from being the youngest during her time as a Titan senior.

Dick raised his eyes after thinking aside from the family spat, to look into Vespa's own orbs. "So." He asked with an unwaivering gaze. The heroes prepared readily for the question as well.

"Just _what_ is your power?"

/

Vespa took a slow sip of her wine. She sat silently at the table as the glass remained half full between her tanned finger tips.

It was a boring question to her as she crossed her left leg over her other, the dress she wore shifted with her tattoo there for any guests to see. Her neck was more exposed with her head cocked to the side a slight curiously.

"Ah...you are not all business, not like your friends?..Interesting..."

Then, with a snap as if her visage had never been a perfect soul, the woman's eyes turned steely and raduated her angry energy in another form. .

"Ask me my measurements while you're at it, and don't even start with my age!" She quickly waved for the waiter to fill up her glass, again,and again. Dick almost swore he'd stepped into a mine field. Why had Ronald not been joking this time!? Gar turned red and new that this was a villainous rant to mess with the heroes' head. Madame Rougue could be deemed the worst!

"Well?" She leaned in to see into Dick's stunned blue eyes.

Hey..!" She smiled wide and leaned back into her seat befoee waving to a server on her right.

"Why don't you kids try my game on for size! Salute!" A bottle of something sharp and expensive clanked messily against the wide tablecloth.

" C'mon! I was starting to fall asleep before you had my latest migraine at its limit! " In those motivating seconds that had happened to arrive, with Vespa turning over to a new mask- she had undone the illusion created by Ronald's words.

~He said tough but...She was presently now drinking, guzzling expensive wine like a glorified catfish...!~

As the team stared away or looked 'directly' at the model citizen, Ron felt that he had no choice but to throw himself onto the table with his head down in utter deliberance over the bout.

"I warned you!" Her growled from under his long blonde tail and hidden , muffled features..

~Possibly livid right now.. ~ Richard gulped as his tongue felt too dry by the air in this time frame..

"Um..I...I'm so sor-

"Bad ! No! No! You haveta' beat me first! _Sa-Lute!"_ She could not be swayed as this adult turned teen in seconds.

She shoved a glass into Dick's hand as her eyes were unfazed by the unimaginable amounts the spirit had just drunken.

"Don't be shy.."

Smirked the sly fox. Her body never even seemed to sway by the regret of the elemental's own, reckless actions..

Vespa De Luca was to some, of a 'special' element. If the Titans wanted her help at all, Richard alone would have to do as the Romans-

"This blows!" He downed the glass as the acidic texture felt familiar. As a ward once to the famous Bruce Wayne, Dick had his share during galas, but this...was not a familiar feeling.

"I cannot go back to see my kids if I don't win this!" He drowned in another glass as the stakes swapped to actual alcohol - Ron had seen enough. His charge would be sent to the town's only hospital if Vespa's anger did not disappear!

"Stop this!" Kori jumped in and Vespa's arm was gripped before the soldier could continue to guzzle down the rest of her sullen pride.

"Fantastic! Are you joining us too, mi bel- uhic! Ll- la?"

 **"No!"** Kori laid a fist into the drama queen's view. Her hand now grippimg the older woman's (she assumed) shoulder with an iron set of fingers. Her star bolt ridden eyes were glowing, Even if they were guests..this host was most rude to her 'friends!' The glass fell to the cloth as the dark eyed maiden did not take to protesting. Guests were guests. She had to show a little hospitaility, even as a domineering es-

Starfire glared into the elemental's eyes as a spat went on between their stares of pure angst. The daemon woman turned her head to the side with a sniff, however..he eyes still mocked the alien ex- princess.

"Eh..he is your lover- boy? I had no..idea! Then you should retire as soon as possible...-

"We are **not** leaving until you reveal why you had dared to ..to..supply your aide at all!" Starfire did not get the joke. She did not teasing or being teased as this was an unjust, cowardly action.

"You are a most _disgraceful_ host! **No** guests should have to attend your party as you act so much like a ..like a _**thragghlschtkzzs!"**_

Dick's jaw dropped..Star was using profanity. He had heard this on more than one occasion, but this word by the sound, sounded like the mother of insults as far as the cop could tell by Vespa's initial shock.

The elemental female laughed out loud instead.

Raven finally yelled* for the noise to seize, her power encased around her ears to drown out the drunken dummy at their table.

"This is your uncle's...drinking buddy..." Cy gawked and knew that Gar's comment was pretty close. Kaien was a miserable sailor as well but not as violent!

 _"Ahahaha!..Oh...you..you..thought...?..I_ was sure you'd just let me go!"

Was Vespa really just another miserable wacko!?

 _ **"Hhahahaha!"**_ The banging fists of the woman who hit her own dining table repeatedly, made Rachel Roth feel eternally grateful to Azar - for teaching Raven from a young age, all of the finest noise cancelling spells by heart.

"Why is she doing this, _Ronald!?"_ Damian stomped over froma seat he'd placed a distance away from. All of the shouting had him up and mobilized. "Is she just..drunk?" He raised a browhis his hands to his hips, peering at the clown with his shades still on.

"Hoped to be sober...you' dunno..know...dogs don't die from a cup of poison." Dami jumped back when the dead eyed fish had risen from her seat.

"We are ...ehem..our own demons, anyway." Vespa raised her head with her body glowing - an aura of violet surrounded the soldier as her face returned , her former mask rejuvinated fully and wholly.

"Well, know then that we ...um..wait? Who are you? Weren't you gulping down the Caspian sea and all its contents!?" Ron knit his brows together, remembering his geogrophy was becoming a lazy ordeal to recognoise. Caspian sea..wrong body of water!

"That power...was that ...are you a psychic?" Raven recognised this , yet Haru reappeared as a spector beside her. Her ears were up and listening with the keenest understanding of her surroundings coming to light.

~She is a daemon by her nature.~ The swift kitsune sniffed by tgat pretentious smirk of the elder..she was quite a pain to be in the same rooh..her aura was vile.

~Ugh.. Though lower status than the Celestials.~ Haru sneezed as a result of the other fox's energy.

~Well.. are you of spirit origin -

"No." Vespa shook her head and smiled back by her secret being out. "I am of the underworld's order. Your cat -friend Veravakumu is of Spirit..Animal, at best."

She seemed to mock them as other previous guardians tended to. "Though his 'Verra' influence is unlike my kind. " Vespa added lastly before brushing a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"Then, you know what is going on with our bud Vee in -

"I have all the foresight, enough to tell you are being truthful." She stated, staring at Cyborg by the comment not really being obvious enough as a question.

"Your allies are troubled by these events, while I was here to track down the council's, newest threat. "

"As if we can really believe that a drinking game was !-

"Little hero?" Dami was cut off by the icy maiden's stare.

"I _hate_ to break it, but my part to play was issued by someone in your group. "

She interlaced her fingers together by her lip with a slip of paper now in hand.

Vespa set the supposed check down, along with a generous tip for not tossing ..out , such a very important guest.

"Ron?" Dick turned to his elemental ally, besides a no longer, wary Vespa.

"She was already here , but my plan had not been to be called out as a laughing stock in bloody public, like you had it all from the start!" He raised his finger to Vespa who only rolled her eyes .

Laughing behind an arm she held to her lips, the woman guardian did not seem to hold much responsibility for her actions. Nor did she seem to have enough empathy as the other elementals eventually seemed to pick up. Never any colder than Isa or Al, but none the less,she stilled the room with an uncomfortable energy. A cold yet dreary and awkward kick in the shins . Ron felt it lower tan this since they had met through their factions.

"I am next to Lady Sayumon, a bold witch..My loyalty is to no one unless..." Vespa stopped herself to add in something more.

"That is, unless my job description allows it. So, if you need a helping hand into that festival the right way..." Vespa turned to Ron with a sneaky set of eyes over the lightening guardian. She had a hand to her hip with her bangles swiginging

"If we go , then you have to stay as far away UNTIL we call for you." Ron grunted . Vespa blinked and picked up herself from her seat. "Should I call off the whole deal, cousin?" She aske, making Ronald feel inferior as Sayu did on every occassion.

"No, sit down. " He stopped the waiter from taking the check. "I am paying. You can tip next time. We caused quite a ruccus, so that should cover whatever she...urgh, 'downed' out of your entire inventory. "

 _"Touche,_ brat official." Vespa clicked her tongue as if Ronald had paid just to spite the off duty, soldier - gone - wild.

"You told us however, less than we full-well needed to realise that the council has your back. Am I right? " Ron raised a brow as the bill was paid off.

* _Sigh..._ every penny was his own sacrifice. And such a blow to her ego, that Ron could live with the evil eye after him in his dreams. There would be plenty with the Supernatual Elemental of the Psyche as the team's newest guide.

"Then, come to my personal flat across the way, I will tell you everything before the god of time has me sent to hell and back."

She was being serious , yet a playful wink had the now, tired tyrant fleeing from the inn lounge. In a split second, her heels did the rest as she stood by the entrance way to the main louge.

"Part we must. Sleep well on your stay! My cousin believes he can fill dear Verrra's shoes while I see..you did not tell me that he has a long way to go to surpass the hound of Hades.."

She smiled with that figure, an illusion -until well out the door she into that brisk, night air.

The Titans had been bossed around by the wittiest elemental of all...it suck and Raven knew she had a frenamy in this dark arts' puppet.

"Quick question..." Gar turned to a mortified and fatigued Ronald. "You named a whole bunch of family ..but..are there more of you ? "

"Besides ...Besides us?" Ron rose slowly and bid their waiter a thanks before apologising twice to the owners for his cousin's behaviour.

The heroes would be staying in the inn upstairs that night. As soon as they had reached the correct floor,the stairwell ended. Ron turned to Gar tok finally answer his overdue question.

"There are a few more, two of our family I did not mention are in the United States and also Kay's fifth cousin...he lives in Sweden. I didn't bring them up into this since it's too early to meet.."

"So, then you are more like representatives, than spirits." Raven noted.

"Sort of by rank." Ron yawned a reply . "My rank is a bit below Kayu's and Aria's...I'd say almost similar to Cliff and Esme's rank, since Sayu chose my half brother for the position closest to her rank. Verra is below myself, and Vespa is actually above Verra by her link to the underworld of a more ancient origin.. Also, my half brother Kay is not really, like we foxes in truth. I am as the dogs , as well as Esme, Cliff, and Vespa with Kaien. Sayu isn't either. We retain our rights as foxes. The dogs are below my mum you see?"

"He has two forms though." Changeing added. "That Calumon kid's toy from an alternate universe , and Kayumon, the larger version... " Gar remembered both of his forms. Even a dragon, which Verra transformed into a black one on occassion. "Aria also had an icy blue bird as her aspect..Which meant that Esme was of water after all. Aria of Air as Richard had found confusing during dessert.

"Let's hit the sack, team." Cy yawned as his eyes also had started to droop. _"Hurgnurglich...Sleep_ would be wonderous." Kori felt herself sway as she was caught by Richard's strong arm. "I should...hic ! Sleep in a bit longer than ..you..hic!"

Kori shook her head by her love's circumstance. This was so true. She just hoped that the children were alright back in Japan with the dilligent Miss Piper.

/

As the city eased into night, Ami looked at her cellphone and all of the pictures she had taken. The girl's lent familiar Haru, gladly came to nuzzle in fox form by her charge's side. "Oh, Haru!" The pig tailed girl giggled as she returned the warm gesture, with a positively adorable head rub to the delighted fox's surprise.

~Miss Ami, your team is searching Sanremo Italy- yet the location is not wrong. Rome will be left to the dogs of your guardian pack.~ Haru was able to see these flash forwards by her powers as a miko's associate. She was a kitsune of many years, and had been in service through those years to Amaterasu hime , through her family line and through Kaede's branch as well.

~I hope Kaede isn't distracting Kaien too much. " Amelia Grayson frowned at one picture in her photos application. "He did something that's unforgivable. Anna has no clue yet."

~She does not have a clue?~ The fox chuckled by the girl's use of her respected tongue. She still had much to consider if the teen Ami would later become, decided to learn of the Rising Sun sect's art. She would become a peace keeper for many worlds, including through time and space by the sun goddess's influence.

"Only Ann was chosen by the Phoenix." Ami said as Haru's fox self tried to curl up on the girl's lap . ~You were chosen much earlier on by Amaterasu's reincarnate to fight as her vassal of the west. ~

"And Aiden has Isis's son's powers of the 'Golden Dawn' ." Ami put her fingers up in qoutes then let her yawn out as an indication of a well spent afternoon. "But I still think we ...forgot about...zzzz."

~In a sense, you are too tired to recall. ~ Haru smiled as her fox's grin soon fell away . The two rested that night in Piper's large flat, the girl's dreams of Okashi land not at all a fabrication. They had even pulled yen out of Anna's wallet to bring home dozens of limited addition figures.

"Mochi mania...Spring Time...Buns - Bunny... Choco-Banana...Mochi.. Mania...plushiee..." Amelia listed the characters through sleep talk. Yet Haru was not concerned..Her job was worth the hours she would have to spend with her young charge. If only Ami knew what that power expected of her..the sect was strict...what if she would be forced to enter it against her parent's wishes?

~Amaterasu has power, yet the sun gods' council can easily overturn what she hath brought...for..wards...~

As the night travelled on, traversing with the sleeping few, the rest seemed peaceful.

However, to Piper...

/

She could not rest .

The visitor had not shown, yet the scout of her prestigous role could NEVER tell her charges! It would mean ...That would bring withit a messy conclusion to the end of her day- the children had been themselves. Their parents must have prefered as much..

"I was told you would visit indirectly from my flat." The book keep turned her head to the side The person she had not seen in what felt like many forevers...

"Pippette." The masked character turned to view the sorceress from a ledge only feet from the witch's penthouse. "Why stay your distance?" Piper sighed and crossed her arms, walking straight out to the window ledge where her miniscule balcony stood exposed to the night air. "The heroes of earth and spirit are not your targets. Get away , or I will not hesitate to send your soul down from the heavens-

~As if heavens exist for pre-made Youkai!~ The mask was of a fox's and for the wromg festive season. The hood of the character revealed the person or being to be a she..Yet the long haired daemon was not human, a spy sent by spirit beings . Allies no longer.

"Fox of the east? Start on your way home." Piper yawned and shooed the kitsune deity's puppet with a wave.

"I know some of your sob story..The young miss Ami told me that her trust in you is, questionable. You broke a promise-

~Amaterasu is my goddess and lady to heed well.~ The light haired spy turned out to have a heart after all. "Why then must you sneak about?" Piper asked and frowned by how hard it was to turn this fellon away. Or to have her turn tail off of a convenient.. ledge.

~I have only one reason, it...is due to the lady miko- child's arrangement. And also, my orders were to be certain thatno competition stood between the walls WE deity hope topple.~

 _~Hunph.~_ Piper stood and smirked, her eyes watching the creature of the night's nerves rattle in place where the kitsune stood.

~Then you I'll stay from our range, I will not speak of this encounter. Just, so that my ch-

"She is no _**longer**_ your _responsibility!"_ Piper shouted as the snarl of her animalistic enemy turned to a growl of diapproval.

~I and my sister will _not_ abandon, as the Lady Amaterasu expects! You cannot ban mefrom my obvious answer..the girl can sense meeven as she dreams.~

~You must go. ~ Piper's wand extended to reach as close to the darkened sky as possible. Kaede was pushed back by a lash of energy. ~Don't try to pass these walls. As your walls are more important than some toddler from earth. ~

Kaede looked on in disbelief, confused by howthis imposing witch had taken her charge away, even if the brat was no more than a sham to her goddess.

 **~Now** _**GO!~**_

The fox transformed into its animal form in spirit before nodding , then it disappeared over a dozen roof tops, sky line after sky line over the backdrop of the sleeping city she boundedon to her quarters beside the sun maiden. Piper hoped to keep the peace, however long it took to kill off the fox's suspicions.

Pippette groaned and returned her wand to its dimensional pocket.. The night, had drained her, magic or no . Piper yawned and dragged her feet back into the sanctity of her rooftop flat..

"Miss Piper, m'ame? " Ami rubbed her eyes by the doorway. Great. The sleepless sorceress sighed and shook her head..The child was just this...too young to have realised the rest..

"I was just standing guard, child." She responded to the awake twelve year old. "I thought that Haru was lying!" The girl gasped as her blue eyes slightly widened . "Were you ...uh..should-

"No!..Sigh..I assure you, my..dear..." Piper bit her lip and continued to coax the child to return to her slumber.

"Just rest." The guest room door had Amelia pause before the girl turnedc with her cerulean eyes to her current caregiver.

"Sorry we caused you this much trouble, but Haru felt her too. We can talk tommorow. I'm not that young ya know."

"Ah.." Piper was in awe by hoe right Kaede had been. She stepped back and tried to muster up a reply. Anything to quiet the curious...teen to be..

"I will consider it. Now go back to bed. Your sibling and her allies are still not well rested ."

"They had better,.we have a plane to catch...but you can't lose!" The girl grinned and softly threw a chuckle in as her smile made the book keep's stomach drop. "Y-yes..You, cac worry no more for..tonight."

"Thank you , miss Pippette. Night ...er.. Oyasumi nasai...yaawn!*..." The girl was cute, but Piper had to rest as well. The child obediently retired to the guest room. The protege no more of Dreamwake (since a graduate), sighed and did not turn back. The child was not her biggest worry.

"I could always call Ron from elsewhere." Piper felt the shadow watching. "Miss...Anna-

"Ami wasn't fooled, but I will gladly let you give me a heads up tommorow. "

"You can all know by then." The sorceress was tired. The human world had her drained as a mortal most of her days...

"Fine. But if my sister is in the middle of a conspiracy ...or a part of it-

"Nothing, would bring me a greater joy.." Piper began with a laboured groan. "Than finally seeing that traitorous kitsune put in her place. "

"Kaede. Then I should stand watch-

"She departed, said nothing of a return. "

Anna looked to the hall where veer sister was tucked in tight with Haru's fox spirit half.

"Maybe, but let me go check one last time." Piper could only grunt as her side needed a four poster. Badly!

"Fine!...Just do not try to open the latch too early. This place I now own has a barrier protecting it from prying eyes on the other plane. If so they dare to know my secret. "

"Good to hear." Anna took that as an ok and set off down the hall. Piper started towards her own room, hoping that she could sleep before the sun came up over the Tokyo city skyline.

/

The girl gripped her comm unit from under a fold of her oversized night shirt. Anna had a few bones to pick with Astarte for starters. Why was Isa putting her nose in the Titans' fight?

"Time to be just as nosy." She set to work tracing a signal before setting off off of the open balcony ledge..

"I smell a fat, lying rat in this city..right under my radar. No go." Ann decided she would take to the sky by grappling hook . Her military style pouch was genuine for her job description. Anna pulled her red locks into a tight pony before setting the trigger off, she flew with the wind through her bones. Her uniform had been an easy swap in mere minutes. As a vigilante, her poor dad had to bring himself to keep the identity he carried as Nightwing a secret 24/7.

"Dad would ground me if I still intended to live in my parent's place much longer. " She rasped and thought this to her self out loud. Not like anyone was up at midnight going-on one a.m.

"Still.." Ami was in a tough spot, if Kaede laid a hand on her sister!...

The sight below was of a familiar area. Takah-

"Agh!" Anna dropped by the way her grip had missed a single target. "No!" She sent another grappler into the air where it would break her if..no! Her body was makimg it back to Piper's by morning!

 _ **"Yiiah!"**_ She sent a small flare by her power to materialize. The staff of the fire bird's thanks appeared right on schedule. _**"Outcry!"**_ The riveting feeling of wind gushing as a rising geiser had the eighteen year old yipping in mid air to land. She found her footing and had gotten pretty lucky. The landing was on a building, a very tall skyscraper..

"Whoa..." Too high up. Anna examined her good fortune to fimd that the buildind stood parallel the girl's place to...oh boy...

"Shoji's main corporate headquarters.."

~You must have not gotten the memo then." The blast of a misty cloud blinded Ann as he twirled to avoid another bomb her way. "I thought this range was our territory."

Ann wiped her lip as she rose from one knee. "Then my guess was as good as your's . Shoji own this place..Not convicts from another time..-

 _"Ugh!"_ The teen rushed out of air as the thick fog started to cut off her oxygen. _"D...don't..bother!"_

Ann returned to her form as a guardian of the new generation. Her flame based magic was more aggressive than her brother's by the combat training she performed on a daily level.

"Sort of took you for a ghoul -or a monster in the closet with that underhanded attack!" The teen reeled up her staff and let her magic pass right through the toxic cloud. The bearer had disappeared,yet the red head knew that tricksters were sometimes difficult to beat sense into-

"Made you look!" The laughter of what could have been a high flying clown on the trapeze turned intok a violent assassin's turn from the light.

"Yow! You aren't a villain! Cut it...shhooot!" Ann dodged as the kitsune summoned her multiple daggers as flying blades to the ground- right at Anna!

 **"Hey! _Truce!_** We had a!-

"You made me act. We chose not to cross paths until a victor had emerged..."

Anna snorted and triedc to redirect her attention towards the voice, the fog was too thick, again!

"But killing isn't a rule we have between frenemies-

"All's fair in this waiting game, brat! " The fox attacked again, this time nearly grazing Anna's right rib. She bearly made it it in time to drop and roll from the attack..

"You are not on anyone's side...what is your princess gonna say when she finds you playing fox hunter? Huh?" Ann taunted the mammalian deity spirit with the truth. Yet the fox's grin grewlarge with her tail bushing to carry four more firey branches.

"I am more evolved than my pitiful race! The princess will thank me! You can go to sleep in this city! So.. Lights out!"

 _"Prometheus's Prize!"_ Anna let her staff drive the fox's gleaming red eyes and threats to die back with that eerie fog. The light resembled a torch that tore through the darkness as a sharp blade , cutting away the false illusion.

 _ **"No!**_ The light..it's not _necessary!_ " Kaede rebuked and dove out and away from the energy this child carried.

The red headed teen gasped and ran by the snaking whisps of miasma. She had her staff at the ready if Kaede snapped again.

"Haru said you were a mess." The second to eldest Grayson remembered their spat inside the temple. Kaede was against humans controlling her kin. She did not want a truce, nor did she want a real solution that involved the heroes!

"I..don't want you to ruin this land's peace! Leave it and do not step foot here any longer! Amaterasu does not need a useless outsider-miko from the land of a dying sun.." (Trust issues, just her character since she lost Amaterasu to the dying belief of modern humans.)

 _"Heyy..Why_ are we fighting over this when your world is in -

"We can handle the demented Manifesto without you!" Kaede screamed as her claws extended to rip at the fog, readily now heading right after the stunned Anna - out of her element!

"This is pointless! Let me help-

Ann swerved blow to dip again, her stff her only real weapon against the fox woman.

"NO! You are a distraction! Go! _**GOGOGOGOGO!"**_ Kaede swat her swords in multiple directions, trying to skewer Anna on the spot!

No wonder she was literally considered, the 'more violent' fox twin! Haru had to have had multiple migranes by this bad example's ..well, example!

"Ami is on our side! Why are you-

"Amaterasu is happy with that girl..she intends to leave us in her care, as a vassal to the Rising sun sect's late seat.  
I will bash that ideal from her head before it comes to pass! I will not let you priestess kill off our hime!"

Whatever this fox believed, the warning sounded like something from a prophecy. From what Anna could tell by Kaede's pained expression, she had to be at least half right.

"We will! But Shoji is who we came to free." Anma put up her hands as the kitsune looked ready to send her fox-fire the auburn girl's way.

"But..we can't leave until he's back in that building, being bossed around by Ayane who...Please.. Let us do the rest! "

Anna pleaded as Kaede dropped her arms to both sides.

She had her head lowered, as if thinking over the plea in her mind. Anna grit her fists and awaited a reply that would put her worries to rest..She had to get back soon. The sun would come up!

"Why should I listen to a _human?.."_

"I was given this power by a really powerful spirit, like your Hime. "

"Hime is..she cannot compare to your allies of the wrong side-

"We are on your side, we want peace just as much as your princess...so, we promise. I promise. Ami won't stay with her. We will go home once Shoji has his job back, and everyone is freed from Manifesto's influence."

"You... " The fox gripped her skull and shook all over, gripping her arms for comfort. It hurt. So much!.. Her rage ..was building or was...!?

"A- are...t..oo l-late..."

The fox felt her limbs turn to transparent silken joints. The influence was around them , destroying the ones that could be turned..Anna grasped her staff, then tried to fling herself after the disappearing - now reappearing kitsune.

 ** _"Kaede!"_** The girl had lost her chance to save the fox spirit as the darkness of this place creeped in. The red head had not the will to oppose the daemon kitsune's turn from light and shadow, to everlasting darkness and as a dominated soul...

"No...You _**...Why?!"**_ Anna cried out as if she had lost an ally to this evil power.

"I, was too weak..to..protect...so..." Kaede raised her face to seek out her latest victim.

"I shall _**rip**_ you to shreads here and now, _instead!"_

The fox's eyes turned red and left her robes to become silver and pure black. She had lost her rights to protect her charge, her sister's allies...Kaede had officially turned into a true demon of Japanese folklore.

Silver foxes of the toxic mist clung around to reform and took after Anna's heat signature. They could sense her blood through her muscles that pumped like crazy..to escape!

"Stop! You are!-

 **"Aagh!"** Ann felt the hit as she fended off the other mist made fox spirits with her firey staff. "Ugh! Stronger!? I have to break you from this..spell!-

A clapping applause had Ann look up. Kaede's magic froze as the night air swirled above the guardian child's head..

"A..kid?.."

He had silver hair, a short stature similar to Aiden at fourteen, and glowing blue orbs with an icy touch of silver to their centers.

"I thought you would come sooner or later. Never _this_ early!" The boy, or fiend, laughed with an eerie cackle In Anna's direction he peered down. A monster. The kid that Kaede said was messed up, delusional..

"You the one who told her to give up!? Let Kaede go! And I have a hunch as to what the 'big bad monolgue' this time is gonna be! Don't bra like all the other villains, kid!-

"How rude." Marcus frowned and knew he was only safe for so long on top of his silvery cloud.

"Should I give you the same mind as your doggie pal ? Would you rather just forget this whole mess? Of course! You are a HERO! WELL.."

The boy's eyes were full of anger and malice. A certain emotion welled up in Anna before she let the feeling pass.

 _"Manifesto!?"_ The red head cried up to her lone fan. **"Where** is it!?"

"My prize in neither him nor you...I am after...A legacy that was once mine alone. " Marcus raised his arm before the smaller tome appeared before the exiled sorcerer.

"Kaede? Protect this fortress from intruders!" The brainwashed kitsune obeyed by the influence with her fangs fully loaded. Anna brought her staff to become stves as the fox daemon dove in for the kill blindly.

 _"Agh!_ Best you got!?" Anna goaded the rat child as Marcus grimaced by the child's ugly use of word play. Such _vulgarity!_

 _ **"Kaede!"**_ Marcus commanded the kitsune to raise more incarnated spirits as before. The playing field was full, yet Anna used her inner light of the Phoenix's influence to deflect the spirits' attempts.

 _"Argh...My_ turn then I suppose. You weren't joking, impudent _boar_ woman!-

"I! Oh, **heck** no! Kaede... We are ending this. _**NOW!"**_ The teen send her firey aura to sorround the kitsune in a swarm of ungodly light. The orange flame was as Kaien's trick. She could heal the daemon servant from her affliction.

Anna's hair stood up with her whole body floating up to the silver haired boy's level.

"I should have installed a new system..." He seemed tok frown at her,though did not move an inch..

"I should just go after you here, now...and free Kaede from your magic!"

"Why should I give a damn about that!?" The boy's eyes turned to light as his wrist rose to spill a rising aura from his gloved fingertips.

~Story to tell, story to craft! Leave this prisoner within the final stage left! Seal your pages to pull her ego apart!~

"That **_doesn't_** rhyme!-

Anna defied the other worldly tug as the book had her powerless by its dragging energy. She was swept into the tome of ink and ancient curses. Grateful for the opportunity, Marcus shut the book with a loud clap. "See you in the final chapter!" He grinned over his prize - a neo age guardian of the fire bird. What an interesting developement!

 _"Kaede."_ The delusional teen snapped his fingers and released the kitsune woman from the red head's healing magic.

 _ **"Ugh..."**_ The fox swayed on her feet before she had been teleported into Marcus's lair. Lao Ming was with Charl to throw the heroes and elder guardians off of his track. Well from the path which lead to their true destination.

"I just need one more key figure, then this country will be powerless to oppose my control...Kaede here will deliver me her precious allies..this lovely hime?..She'll be fuel for my legendary tool to progress!"

The laughter of the evil boy filled the air as a wandering echo across the whole of a sleeping Shinjuku.

This plane was doomed to exist by a new leader! Marcus intended to have his wish, to surpass the red dragon for good and forever!

/

Music scene pushed to next chapter. Read on for this climatic arc's finale! Stay curious!


	9. Chapter 9

Teen Titans; New Generations; The Manifesto Pages- Storyteller arc; Chapter 8: See No Evil, Hear No Evil- Concerto Underneath the Full Moon - Christopher's Role to Play.

Note worth mentioning: Ayane has not shown for a few chapters . I am working for a mondo ex machina plot twist by how even currently, she will be investigating Shoji's lab until any result leave her 'out of breath.' The dog has secrets and the gods cannot stanf the fact that he used to and currently did, sell out their secrets to control the deity. It was a failed attempt to prwvent themfrom coming to Earth, yet he fails every time when the Celestials send one of his family to do their dirty work. One arc, Aria is te nay- sayer and captures Veravakumu as in this arc. Onlyhe is set free eventually by a mis hap..eh..lot of povs that I lose track of such as ages .

Ava is nineteen.

Dami is seventeen, but is going to turn eighteen before the teen twins , Aiden and Anna.

The red heads are actually a few minutes apart. So eighteen in months to come.

Ami is twelve going on thirteen in the late summer, she is more advanced though acts the fool to better her perspective from a distance.

Kaede is technically the eldest, though acts like the younger,spoiled twin of the kitsune pair. Haru is younger, never procrastinates, and enjoys Harajuku fashion when replenishing her energies at night. She avoids confrontation and is rather formal with her guests ( by era and age, more mature as well, compared to Kaede.)

I may have added that Henry's eyes were green by mistake, the are actually blue by the precious arc's representation of his youthful appearance. He has brunette to red hair (auburn( error in typing!?) at best.) Glen is a cohort of Skadi's clan and of the spirit world as a 'supposed' smithy. He is only miles apart from Ava's capital city. Henry is of the 'Greenest Grove', which depicts his heritage as Ireland or the old world at best in that respect. He studied under the same roof as both Piper and Skylar Thompson in the Eternal worlds' academy( for the sorcery kind of gifted.)

As with Alice's origin, her voice changed when she had lost her memories while following Slade's command( arcs; new beginning and next chapter of our lives, etc.) Her actual home world was of Itlay before it became Catholic in the past to the most of that degree- a while before the dark ages came along would be too soon..

Cecilia , is an actress and can change her colors ording to her environment. She now is the archetype of the sorceress that supresses dark magics from entering other worlds. The Crescendo house is of the Lunar sect , energies and a pact with deity who rule it still. Daia is lossely 'Day but not literally, mind the made up expression used. That would be Solaris as is the faction Alicia would have run had she not expired by her curse being lifted. Lisa Viscado houses Alice's spirit and can be called to act by her pact- holder at any time. Not as Shiro or Hakuro, yet pretty much a simple transgression that has left 'Ready Steady's ' vocalist to go solo since the event.

Cecilia has ties with the Pope, as her mother saved the faction by keeping it safe within the Cathedral's walls for many years. (Catherine is also reincarnated, yet like Shoji, she cannot die by her position so easily. Veronica was freed by her desire to leave Lilith to her fate- she was actually revived after surviving the outbreak in her home world of the past. Bethel Ferguson is now a spectre and has less of a role to play , Lilith being cast off to god knows what time frame.

Another note over how the Chosen is reacting to these changes in his group: Aiden was an average kid before any of his siblings had gained power. When Ava he learned, had actually been the true catalyst to have unlocked his abilities with her own, he demanded answers and found that his sister did not regret doing as she had been expected to. He thought that Ava had become as cold as a modern day snow queen. To his dismay, Ava's humanity had never actually been real. Like the dofs,she could take on a form and blend in with the rest of society until her power grew to fruition. Then, she would be ordered , and was, to return and take the place of the Eternal Barrens' reborn princess.

Aiden noticed that Anna changed after the event as well. The truth? She used to be a rowdy teen with a temper, but she was also insecure and anxious constantly with her life going the way it had been at the time. With Solario and Sara Santiago's help, as well as Nightwing's teachings, Anna took towards bettering her understanding of her role, even when her parents had refused to let the teen join Santiago's combat school for the super- human elite ( not the name,it has a cover I would think.) Aiden saw that his family was practally falling apart by the prophecy, distrust and animosity towards one another seemed never ending. Yet as the dragon pointed out in part two of these new years, Aiden would never be truly happy until his magic had left him- whenhe actually needed to take control of it and embrace himself as he had become by the prophecy. Denial is a scary substance. Roku knew how to dig at the teen's outer shell. He did that with his son,with Richard Grayson, with Aice and even the guardians Kay and Verra. Lilith used her magic to tempt Ava in the same manner, only her powers were not as violent as the cunning dragon's . He was taught by the strich (wattpad story! Veil of time, forbidden myth arc!) so his affinity towards harming the psych of his prey is standard demon aesthetic( typo..)

So now, Marcus is after something that can only be sought by himself. Ayane is trying to uncover what the sorcerer is up to as the Teen Titans commence operation : Shut down the festival's Aggie - G?..

Hecate, by the way is not on such great terms with Lady He'l or the guardians. However, Vespa may hide more on that later!

Toying with the word play- now, back to the arc! (note on this being a lengthy yet important chapter!)

/

Ava reached for a path by the power she held to her chest. Reia's pendant acted as a guide through the falling , blizzarding snow drifts , as the teen princess expected no less of her winter's world - law and order defining the northern barrens and leaving it to the stormy gods.

She tried to have Christopher watch over Aiden as he waivered in and out by the winter land's effects over his solar power. He had to attempt this trek if they were ever going to reach the destined portal that would take the group home.

~May!? Can you see if Small Paw is close!? Ava called out as the chilly wind brushed along side the princess's cheeks. Her icy abilities prevented the girl from frostbite due to her arrangement. The 'sun states' and solar sectors made her weak as a result of this pact . Aluehainyu came only briefly before to test the council's newly appointed royal in her position as a guardian to Miss Ava Marie.

~Nope! We _must_ keep walking! ~ May shook her head and cried back over her wool kept shoulder. ~Christopher has not had much trouble!?~ She added to question how their weakest member was indeed fairing. Ava smiled back weakly as May had gotten her answer.

~He is trying his best.~ Ava mind spoke to clear Miss May bell's doubts.

Christopher was tossing sled filled amounts of powder off of the princess's sibling. Aiden had fallen asleep, which meant that he had to be carried by the newly appointed knight to the Lady Ava's, northern-most faction.

He felt a burning ache since the return, hoping and praying only that Hati was dead and burried forever from his memory.

The wolf had dismembered the teen's mentality. He had been shorn by the beast and was left to pick up what remained of himself. Had it not been for a cluster of deity, Chris would have been swimming in the astral plane for decades, never to return to his princess as he had seen her cry so many nights.

She was actually rude to him, hurting his pride by her trust being broken - Hati had severed their bond, and now Ava wouldno longer treat Chris as her childhood..friend.

~That will not hurt me, I want to protect Ava as her strength. To be stronger so that she will believe me to be that ...I will take on the role of her knight, her body guard and she will not have to lose trust in me again~

Christopher remembered the pledge and yet, Aiden made his bones creak with a strange nervous energy. The boy was once tainted because of the knight's captor. He had lost then, and the chosen...

~He had almost lost complete control over his powers..~

Yes, Aiden had almost allowed a shadow self the absolute honor of securing Earth and its freedoms. He had nearly failed as that world's chosen ally. ~ Now, he is older, yet more reckless than before, and worse! Ava has to defend his demons...that is not alright..~ The grey haired teen frowned and attempted to hoist Aiden further up while in his grip.

~There may be a way to reach the end..but if I do..~ Ava overhead Chris's words as her feet stopped dead in front of their untread path. Blurry vision, flurries dancing wildly in the storm of the century - was he trying to tell her something?

 **~Princess!~** Chris called out as Ava turned her head, just at the moment he had said her title aloud.

~I have a way to distort this storm's process!~ He bearly went onto a single knee, as Aiden still was still being carried by his allies. There was enough weight to bear onto the shoulders of an adult - one being Ava's age and of her level of ftness. She wanted to laugh by their sheer luck.

 _ **~What**_ are you saying!?~ She called back, her heart pittering as if this were good bye. ~I have the power that Hati no longer carries! I can use a spirit self to break through the storm and cut a path towards the cave!~ He called back, Ava's face concerned. Yet she had to ask later more of what he meant by a spirit - self..

~Your **_power..!?_** ~ May chattered back, her eyes wide as if she were going to attack the lone knight. She dragged herself head first into the snow with a clumsy tilt backwards. Recovering her balance , the bluebell pixie only seemed to question this noble body guard's position with her gaze. Tellervo had trusted them all to work accordingly!

Chris nodded back and tried to be brief. The cold winds were worse than before as night was beginning to eclipse the tallest peaks, covering them in shaded of dark and navy for good.

~This storm is not natural!~ Chris explained as his body took on the changed shape of Hati's wolven one. It shimmered full of stars and magic as Ava h asped,her heart sunk by the possibility that he had absorbed a turned daemon.

May bit her lip and knew that miss Tellervo had not told her charge of the boy's circumstance. It was out of love, yet...He had begged the deity to say nothing at all yet to Ava..

~I can bend this magic, dispell it to allow us to pass!~ The wolf figure was without pupils as its glowing white eyes of an astrally occuring force did not falter. ~Ava..please..let me make everything alright...~

The boy's princess stared deeply into that whitened gaze and nodded. It hurt to do so, yet she had no other choice. They would be buried alive and Aiden was unconscious because of Ava Marie's decision ..

~Ok, but _don't_ try to play the hero- I don't want to lose you again.~ She mind spoke to the wolf, who's toothy grin had the silver and lavender haired teen force a smile back. ~Ok, My noble knight of the northern sect!~ She proclaimed as Chris had been given permission finally to try out his new gift.

Lifting his chest towards the hidden moon, the clouds did not part,yet the wolf's form became a spirit to the winds. On wings intangible, Ava gasped as the light from the beast's eyes acted as a compass through the dark, they floated by without worry or fear to hold the tired team back from their mission. Ava saw wolves of mist and snow, spirited deer and elk, rabbits and birds aflight in the drifting wonder world.

Chris had lifted them all through the storm...Yet, wait!

Ava then spotted by May's extra gasp. Small Paw and her pack followers soon were running alongside the shifting group of travellers.

~Princess, the wolf Hati is no more..Then why is your knight..Why does his power exceed the evil demon's!?~ Small Paw asked this as Aiden, Ava and their compatriot May-Bell, with the disembodied( temporarily) Christopher, had now passed through the worst of the accursed snow-storm.

~That was no ordinary happening by the natural cycle.~ Small Paw mind-spoke to the Barren's princess. Shesniffed the air as it carried an unfamiliar scent with it. The odor was poison to a totemic rite holder. She sneezed as a result of the unpleasent essence.

~Hecate, perhaps?~ Ava wondered as Chris attempted to return to normal, as the sacred, hidden caverns came into view.

~I sense something stronger than what our powerful energy can produce.~Small Paw dipped her skull before returning into the mist - her task finished and her heart no longer wishing to fly to the moon by the snow- wolf's enchantment - energy. (Sort of sorcery that controls spirits. Small Paw of the birth parents Aneiu and Aneius. She is wary of being spirited away as the same is to say of humans or demons. Funny, huh..?)

~We are here! Miss _Ava!~_ May gasped and shook off dusty mounds of snow from her coats. ~Aiden..your sibling...we must hurry!~

She was right. At the rate Aiden's breath was heaving out icy energy, he would not make it much longer...Or further..Farther along back to Earth..

~Let's go inside.~ Ava directed her troupe as Chris had returned to the form of her loyal servant. ~As you say.~ He said this with a weak bow. The time was too untimely , not until they had reached their new destination could he explain everything.

The caverns were narrow by the ceiling's height, yet the length of time it took to reach the portal seemed a greater deal than the space required. Ava did not worry, everyone but the boys had an advantage. May was in her elven form to prevent the loss of her magic . Her blue bobbed 'do' shifted fromside to side as her cerulean eyes looked about, up and down the cave to seek out the hidden vortex that would lead the group to earth..Or to elsewhere in time..

~If my ears are wrong..~

Aiden groaned softly at the same time that May had spoken her comment. May frowned and looked at the ceiling intently. It was ofcrystal, the entire cavern was a mirrors surrounding the group!

~Then the hidden portal world is not here, yet ...~ The blue pixie's eyes fell on Ava as the girl stared back with her trademark daze of a confused teen.

~Princess, your power can reveal the spot's location.~ Chris beat the pixie at her own game, as the blue bell, flower woman pouted with a sudden frown. She looked as Ami with her puffer-fish cheeks! He could ask Ava some things, yet Tellervo had her warning that the princess remain on alert at all times. The silver haired boy, May did not trust him at all.

~Yes, what your knight speaks is true.~ May bell murmered that her loss had been fair, though she regretted losing her chance none the less. Their mission was more important than fighting over the young priestess of the barrens' favor. The worlds of many were tearing at the seams- or would eventually!

~Then , I choose that wall.~ Ava walked over to the nearest spot before tapping its solid surface with her cold dagger.

~No, it is hollow..then that makes perfect sense to confine a portal...Ah, please!...Continue..~

Chris realized his tangent and stopped himself soon after. Ava smirked by how he blushed so easily, before dragging her blade across the outer layer of the frozen layer. It shone as light touched it,the edges brimming with a strange magic.

~Burst forth...Vortex of **fate!~** Her magic was growing, and the spell was so natural to the budding princess, that her power must had resonated from far deeper, even more deep down tan usual from the resides the nineteen year old's core. More in fact,than May or Chris might ever have fathomed of their charge's capabilities tohave become in a mere decade!..

A trickle of light spilled out from before the crack- it broke further as the light turned out to be only a shadow of the latter.

 _~Miasma!~_

Chris growled as his senses whirred by the interruption of their peace of mind. His own had ended too soon..

~The **_witch!~_** He exclaimed.

Ava tisked* with an irritated click of her tongue, and jumped back from the whisps of dark energy. ~ Hecate has done the unthinkable! ~ The silver haired miss readied for a counter strike.

The wall oozed a grey energy that had the cave filled to the brim in seconds. May screamed out as Ava's barrier had little effect on their outcome.

~I don't wanna drown!~ May cried out as she swam over to Aiden, clinging for a way to grow back her perfect wings.. Her dear Impsie was going to worry his head off!

~Somone _**AAh!**_ Stop that monstrosity! _Eeek!~_ She panicked by the pull of the cursed had the team in its clutches. The witch was not at all an ally after all she had done! No oh no!

Chris swam as well, his body teetering and ripping past the grey blob mass. In deeper into the poisonous mass he swam, as he struggled to locate his only princess. Ava had been by the start , where the effects of the poisonous essence could drag her further inside the core of the fiend's never ending stomach!.. It would not absorb her so quickly!

 _~Ava!~_ Struggling, Chris dove in towards the thralls of the very trap their crone enemy crone had laid for the group. Chris's grunts turned to uneasy breathes as he pushed until the core was close enough to seek...out!..

~Ava! Ava!? Where are you!-

~REVELARE VERUM VERTICE! ET GLORIOSOS TERRAE HUMILIABO **_VACUI!~_**

(Latin, the magic that had once won Ava her deafeat when facing the dragon king...these new years part two.)

Ava cried out as the miasma beast distorted, whipping and warping - until it was only a splatter on the cold, icy ground beside the prideful sorceress. Ava emerged from the mass as if her eyes could see nothing but the ending of their journey. Tunnelvision, she was nowmore powerful than before. Chris and May gasped as Ava's art teemed around her body,'s sillhouette. The priestess Reia would have been relived to know that her heiress had grown so quickly in such a short period of time.

~ Hecate cannot stop us.~ Ava Marie had words so strong tofall from those pale lips, Chris stood speachless, still unable to cope with her sudden transformation.

~Yes ~ He agreed with a silent nod. ~We cannot be tested..~ He smiled back and remembered his pact. Christopher Jean of today could not love her highness. He could only protect the princess from any harm, whenever harm tended to follow the heiress of the Eternal Barrens.

~Chris?~ Ava's lavender eyes barely met his as Christoher's hand still held on tight without thinking. ~We are safe, ah..You can let go now-

~Oh! I...sorry..~ He shuffled back as May snickered by the cute display.

~Then, shall we go to Earth together?~ The portal was there as a giant glittering sight. Some facets of the crystal wall resembled diamonds shimmering, or gleaming beams of light. Yes, Ava was ready to take the plunge as the time drew closer to win this inner battle.

~Let us not look back. Team?~ She felt like a new adventure was just through that door. And yet, Aiden returning to his old self would take the entire trip to recover -just as it had taken poor Ami in Tokyo.

~Nothing is impossible!~ Ava reassured herself inwardly. ~No one can stand in our way today.~

/

By the next airport, the three compadres had been so worn,that nothing at first could wake Shoji from the dramamine he had taken. _~Couz!~_

Kay had had to slap* his family member across the face , just to have his reaction die back with the darker haired relative's growl..much more pronounced than in his form of Verra.

"Warn a man if you are going to put him on the spot... _Ooww!"_ The cat could have saved his whining for later- he would have to . Kay grabbed the lousy other mutt by his sleeve and tugged mercilessly for the lout to move his rump towards the nearest exit. "Charlie is on the move. Heh, (seething on this part! Do not take with more than a pinch of kosher salt to this!)

"Well, that was a total cock up , wasn't it?" Kay sniggered as Shoji raised a brow with his headache only preventing the dog from budging an inch. "You never use your mama's slang in public...am I still asleep?-

"Yeah, nah." The white haired fox shrugged before letting his arm turn to a vice. It ipped the ebony haired hound up with such force,that Shoji had no choice but to yelp like his cuddly counter part by the shock.

 _~Aahh!~_ He seethed outwardly as the passengers ignored for the most part, the spat between brothers.

"He cursed your arse to this seat..." Kay was losing his edge slang meant they had to get away from the kid imp before the dragon in Sayu's kin only made matters worse. "I won't tell if you stay quiet for say...until we get off this plane!?" The cat growled as if Kay had to be forced to back off. "Thanks for the tug. Sorry, I scared the d-

"Say, no more..you sound unnatural when you curse, ya know. " Shoji smirked before rising from the spot. The magic strands that held him broke as loosened cords by the white- haired official's magic.

"Right, then off we -

"Stop!..ah..Tada, _mo_ damare!...You, dumb cluck!" Kayu actually giggled by the pay back, though saw lines dragged acroos the black cat's face. He was pissed, tired, dead awake on his feet for the wrong reasons.

"And?..Our hostages , oh , cousin o' mine?" Shoji grinned angrily up to his younger , the light eyed comrade had to sigh as he dragged his mate towards the main exit of the plane.

"What a ratbag- Oh! Eh..he made us work for free ..the situation was an absolute bluff. We didn't stand a chance. None of the passengers remembered a thing. When you came to..." Kay seeped as if this were important, or aggravating as heck.

"He had run off to somewhere. I think landing and dragging you to put yourself in the-

 **"Watch** yourself.." Vee would have joined in on the talk. Shoji was not all fun and games at the moment. "Sorry...my energy is in a whirlwind, a sudden urge to disobey m...Sayumon came when I had him...then...-

"He did you in and had _YOU_ conked out **TOO?"** Shoji was upset, yes. But, HOW could Kay have been so dopey!? He was ..oh..right...negative energy v.s a being of Celestial light. Big bang , no way. Wait!

"Who did _..wait..argh!_ My skull is _pounding!_ Just...gotta recharge.." Shoji panted and instantly recognised that dramamine could never have left him this dead on his feet. That...Charl had been a really, bad boy ! He probably changed the dose in one go!

"We are in over our heads if you think that Rome is not fifty minutes by bus, attaway-

"Oh, that's informative, _reaally?"_ The dog droned as his feet were now standing in front of a mini, airport conveni-

"Darn.." He tried not to cuss and end up like Kay? No way! ~Being in Japan was not the reason... ~

The real Takahara Shoji's memories had only merged with Veravakumu's own consciousness since the man's demise( say, ten years plus an extra ten more?) , when Ronnie had been on top of her A game..when Vee had been no more than a spy for the Lady Isis's daily power grabs..

"Shoji? Mr. presidente' ?" Kay waved a palm in front of the cat's face. He blinked before shrugging off the younger male's irritating nagging. "We have to find where Charl would-

~I could be farther from the truth. " The dog and fox saw, but did not believe their ears at that moment.

In the middle of the walk, from plane to exit - out into the streets of Ostria, there stood the one the dogs had hoped to avoid. Or at least, for this person's own protection..

"Catalina, Daia." Kay gaped as Shoji stood with his head mentally capping him in the skull. A reminder that Charl could be acting as a spy for some reason..he could b-

"No , _formal_ greeting..?" The woman asked as her attire was that of Milan's top spot picks for winter business casual. Yet, she still wore a color to prevent from standing out, black and grey. Her hair was partly set as those long, bountiful golden waves were as Alicia's would never be. She was model perfect, a precious gem to the greedy faction. Lori would have eventually joined her mother to the sect of her own clan..yet now was past those old memories- all that Catalina had been,was as if an adult Alice in the airport's terminal . "Ciao, same to you, if you are too busy to say hello." She smiled, as if to mock their entrance entirely. She did and could as well and as slyly as Cici could behead a traitor behind closed doors. It was how the family had been raised. Care not, yet desire all but disorder for the sancitity of both sects. Solar and lunar.

Solitary and stoic, Catalina had once been brainwashed by Roku as the hand maiden Angela in the past. She had since then, erased that time completely and had not only stayed young and fresh as a daisy since into the present era. The high priestess was Immortal by her rank after all she had been through. Surely, Cici would have to overcome the same hurdle with Alicia's place now vacant.

"Why were you not escourted-

"I am _not_ going about the city as myself. " Shoji did not understand as the woman tried to catch her words short. "I , am here without the name they call me in that 'house.' " She responded. This time the dogs fully well had the picture..Kay was without a retort, yet..Shoji, had a load to exhibit once they had reached the Vatican City before late noon.

"Takahara?" Catherine Daia said this with the sweetness of her nightengale aspect, in every wayg hoping he'd try to play along. "Let's go then." Shoji nodded as Kay stood to come along with their paperwork all settled. "We are here with proper passports." He sighed. "Please, don't ask how, but the luck that came with it is a gift unto itself." He was referring to any kindred Kitsune and their abilities to create false objects, or to become them.

Out into the city , the majority was for transport . They had to travel fifty one minutes to the Vatican as the area was congested with multiple aircraffts and mode of transport. "A commuter plot..I saw more than just planes, trains and -

"You will bring attention to us if you speak openly and without,my first aide to you." With a glance, the dogs both felt Catherine's magic permeate their movements. Stones, and then...

"Que?-

"Uno..uno...minuto!-

"Better, now try to stay close." The dogs coud speak temporarily the language of Catalina's origins. If the mutts refused to stick around, they would be lost in an unknown territory and without a way back.

~ This isn't a big deal, Catherine..~ Shoji mind spoke to break off the distance the blonde maiden had created. ~We want to know how you managed..~ He paused before trying again. ~Was it Cici? ~ The blonde mother just walked without replying until they had crossed the street. ~Verra, please understand when I tell you. Our council members were ransacked by a mysterious offender. That you know. ~ Kay nodded and continued to walk with Shoji, only mere inches from him.

~That was so, and that the culprit could change its shape at will. ~ The light fox was about to interrupt until they had another street to cross. Such a busy spot! ~ We think a certain imp was behind the majority of those crimes.~ Takahara said as his stomach began to drop. He understood exactly where Catherine was headed with that almost hidden, criticism in her tone.

~Then, my friends.~ Catherine turned around to face the confused hounds. Her blue eyes shown in such a way that her daughters' orb could not compare. "Where is the criminal hiding now?"

"Oh.." The cat underatood why they had come to Rome, why Charl had expected the duo to take him to that exact city!

~He already had more than one foot in the door. ~Kay gulped.

Catalina turned around and nodded back towards the main stretch as the trio continued on their venture. "Exactly the case. You led him here, yet the imp you say, was already a guest outside the Vatican, within its walls."

~What about Miss Cecilia, then?~ Kay asked as he dodged a gust of wind and some debris that came with it from the morning headlines..head..lines...

"Eh! That so?" Shoji groaned and turned to see Kay reading a crumpled , dirty newpaper from the unexpected encounter..

"Did Aria..?" The cat scratched his chin by the coincidental note, that they had just been handed a clue out of thin air. Either the stars were in the mutts' favours, or the cat had been aided by a graceful song bird ...

"The date is this , today. " Kay turned a page and let his fingers trail over and across a single headline on the fourth sheet. "The Pope to ... isn't alright, cousin!" The dog had even Catherine coming up to see the title, like they had as kidsin that familiar past. The animal elementals had first helped Catherine with Roku's unwise deception, by banishing him with her power as an extra boost. Lori they had met only after Roku's supposed banishment. He had even taken on a role as the elemental king of the east...

"The holy man is in danger..that is all we have ta know." Shoji frowned and lead his two comrades towards Catalina's private town car. "Pretty...well, you were an incredible asset in Germany last time. Ah, so the make is still your style?-

Catherine sniffed by the comment and opened the german model's door with a snap. "It is my favorite, did you not remember the event with the leader of that, said - country?"

"You were a representative , unlike Sayu who battles her way to the top..." Shoji remembered how Veronica had slipped past security in order to cause a mountain of trouble. Damn..why did those memories even matter right now!?

"My mum is just as qualified, if she doesn't lose to her vanity in the process. Then all's right as rain." Kay could have defended Sayu for tampering with the council's loyalty, or even for butting heads with the sects of both Eternal and Ethereal origin. Yet, he was still a semi catious lap dog. Sayu had let the kid run amuck before settling back as the lesser apposed - Maui tourist, as it was.

"Your mother regained her memories of her position, she is attoning for her near- turning within the Celestial courtroom. "

Catalina looked blankly through the town car's window before her fingers clutched the driver's side , their journey now again ready to commence.

Shoji wondered how an awol Lady had in fact fooled so many other leaders, yet his mind flunkthat position back into the confines of his skull. He cleared his throat before following Kay into the back seat.

"I was able to navigate, as Rome was once my home in the past..still, it no longer desires to become that again, and for good reason.." The car started as the dof and fox had buckled themselves up with a zip of their lips. "Be wary, we will be followed once our car is on the road. " The blonde said this as Kay was about to reply with a comeback in his native sl-

 ** _"What!?"_** Shoji saw his press on the gas with such strength that the warriors of the Amazon myth must have endowed Catalina with all of their fight or flight expertise. "Hit and run em' out!? We were being followed blindly by rat!-

"Please! Let me escape first!" The blonde was so good at running from spies that she did not even bother to tie back her long waves. "I will not be detained by cowards!" The woman raised a palm to spell one decent distraction after another. The dogs were huddled in the back seat, their hair on edge with their shaken nerves. "You..are no speed demon, Cath!" Kay gasped as he turned to see...

"She has shadow fiends for her 'gate keeper' allies." Catherine dragged a few pulls of one lever to send them speeding by undetected. "Time...stopped.." It had. The cars on the road,the average cabs and police cars of Roma were dispelled of any evidence if ...Catherine's spell DID WEAR OFF!

"Tenkit rebel!" The lady cried as she dug her heel into the pedal again, this time her car as tribute to Tokyo Drift.

"Get off the road, Cath-

"No harm will come to these citizens!" She reared herself into the wheel and stared ahead with eyes full and wary. "This is my domain by right, they owe me that little respect! I won't lose to a criminal spy! Duck, you bufoons!" He head bearly turned before the ride left a shot to fire through the woman's back window. It missed yet hit the bumper area without forgetting to leave a few scorch marks in the process.

"We have to get lower..." Catherine mumbled as her tone it turned into a growl similar to her 'tempted' vehicle. "I can lose them faster!" Verra emerged to see that his attempts had, well...Shoji was weak without the aspect's help!

"No! No arson under **MY** watch! _Kay!_ Clock-

...Vee knew to shut his mouth, though it was too late now to take back his demand...

"Kayumon..On it!" Seconds from the bumpy stretch Kay's hybrid kitsune form soon sat beside Shoji with a smirk on its bold lips. "We did this before! Think, 99? We were kings at his game! Let me attem!" The fox took off with will o' whisps floating vividly behind. He had , not needed to as for permission..

"Guard dogs would rather chase cats and squirrels!" The old mutt gruffly grunt in his employer's back seat. _"Cath!"_ the cat leaned into grab hold of the blonde's attention. " Ugh..What just happened!?-

"The one..." The lady in grey and all business sighed before turning the wheel painfully again. "The one chasing us is the daemon **YOU LET ESCAPE!"** She burned more rubber than a monster truck rally- Vee was tossed out the open window and realized-

"Like mother like daughter..My turn then!?" His dark wolven form had becomepretty beefy for its brawny size since a few eons of meditatioon had failed to cap the daemon's alt attitude.

Shoji allowed his form to accompany the mutt as Veravakumu. Now outside of Spirit world territory, the road was their's to earn ..Or to decimate completely if time returned to the plane by the spell breaking! No, not yet likely!

The youbi form was of the supernatural, just as Sayu had sired Kay as an heir to her throne. Its eyes shown blue as the spitting dog took off after the tumbling Ferrari- possibly stolen by the enemy assassins! The loud car came to a screaming halt by Kay's petrifying influence. No violence.

Verra sighed thankful, thank gods for modern logic!

"Aye! You ruined our vacatio-

 ** _"MMRRRREAAAWWW!"_** A woman to emerged from the halted vehicle as her ears were, a cat's ..

A Tenkit!

"You ruined everything ! Stupid **_ANNIMAAAALS!"_** She emphazised her hate by raising a claw or two in defense.

"Who else is riding in there!?" Verra barked as it revert to its cat hybrid self beside its summoner, Veravakumu.

"We gotta tip off that you would be riding in style, but never this trashy a !-

"Umm, Kay?" Verra shot his eyes in the fox's direction. "What if Sayu is in on this!?" He had warned the youbi male of upsetting war torn demons.. Yet the fox almost enjoyed causing this particular catgirl to redden with each insult.

"Rat bag in repititive if I shout it twenty times a day- Nah. Still, I think a few screws loose is all we have to worry bout! An, is it just me? Cathy is not the only kid packin' a sad! You look fresh off the!-

 _ **"AAGH!**_ You are the worst offender of all!" There was a swish of wind from inside the ferrari asa finely dressed brunette male popped out with a sword in his hand. "Eye, ay! Though I thought you would be riding home with that darling pooch, Sigh...I was unfortunately incorrect!" Charl raised his arm as if he were a dorce to be dealt with personally. "You will be hopping on the next flight back to your sickly underworld , _**DOGS!"**_

"You, are the impy?..." Verra wanted to laugh. ~ That, was not!-

Charl sniffed as if the mutt had to keep his jaw squeezed tight with a vicegrip.

"I was turned, but retained my petty existance by striking a bargain with my employer. Same for kitten- eyes , Ming? Was it?" He cutely added as Ming turned pink instead of volcano firey.

"I could box you both off of the freeway... _Fools!"_ Ming was the first to draw her blades, all ten by her cat fingers as a human's equivalent.

"The Vatican City shall be our first city in eons to plunge into darkness ! _Raawr!"_ The Tenkit woman had her miasma freak - cats as bulky as before. This time they were tangible and brawnier as the only dope protectors to their Madame Ming.

"What magic tricks do you perform regularly, imp boy?" Kay was on a roll today with non- stop, witty insults ! Verr growled and lowered his ears. "Time to pack up, cuz!" The cat swiftly knocked into Kayumon to alert him of the coming rise of the enemy's forceful attacks. A dangerous power was going to wipe away Catalina's spell into non-existence!

"But! The brawl!-

"Bat at a cat nip toy, stooge.. But later! We have to dash after Cath! Nnow!?"

The cat felt it suddenly beneath his paws. A tug, as if the world around them were tilting backwards. Illusion magic! The dark magician was..wait? Wrong title! ( Shoji has some clue of post nineties pop culture. His brain is chocked full of interesting comebacks. Our dutiful doggie just refuses to play the jester like his cousin, seeing as these cronies of Manifesto mean buiness!)

 **"Arrgh!** Veravakumu! Merge back!" The two forced a sigh as cat and Guardian did just so.

Kay was coming in hot from the cat's rear. "I have a plaan! But..Where is Catherine now!?" He was right. The priestess was amiss!

"We have to look again..Do not lose the pair's scent or Cathie's scent! Got that!?"

Kayumon snorted and saw how Verra was keeping all of the trio's cards in one hand. He hated to be a lapdog to the wrong officer! Sayu was enough last time!..

"What's our pla-

 **"AAAGHH!"** The dogs jumped. The power hungry, Tenkit mistress was driving a car made of flames right after Kay and Verra as they discussed a possible escape route!

"We will roast you alive! Han? Jin?! Attack the idiot animal - halves!-

"You are somethin' fierce yourself!" Kay shut up once the evil cats were on their backs , literally clawing as Verra bit his way out. Catherine's spell was about to...

 _"Burst!"_ The fire cats now compressed into light without warning. Lao Ming screamed and covered herself from the shower of dead accomplices, her eyes wretched and full of fury, disgust with her growl now a roar. "Who!? Charll!" The cat woman called for back up. He was always one to jump in last second!

"Who shot the sheriff?-

"I..am washing your mouth out with soap once we land, ya know!" Verra cried back to his imbecile cousin, hoping that the fox was still going to stay himself - even if they had been previously on the run from Eternal world officials...

"Sayu had better run you by the rest..." Kay said this as Vee nodded back . "I would hate to see you locked up in your room again, princess. Fight on!" Kay groaned by btge quip as if he wanted to gag by it. "Remind me to get you a new collar when we return to Japan.. Mr. Insulting - as - ever!"

The cats had returned as miasma beasts, Lao Ming's rage enough to revive a portion of her control. Self-control was out of the question.

"How do we push back when she's doin all the pushing!?" Kay was worried about the cat's attacker as it was still on the streets while the debate continued in mid air. Verra felt his brain tick with a solution, Shoji would handle things from here on!

"Rev up... " The dog had a plan that would hurt Kay's pride no more than have Shoji's license buried for five years..or more. Eh, who knew what the law for dwi was in Italy!

"Dog...?" Kay warily looked below to where his cousin had those cat's eyes searching.

"Car trouble?" The ebony mutt revert to Veravakumu's form as he fell only feet from a frozen time- kept vehicle. Ming eyed his two with her own as a big cat's. Very ready to rip her enemies to pieces. She shot back across the way.

"I...am going to run you over! " The cat woman got back towards her stolen car and gripped the door handle visciously.

"Are you proposing a wager? Dumb pup?" The daemon panted as her claws dug as the metal in her fist.

Charl had stayed away, yet the mysterious arsonist had to be the wizard causing mischief to throw off the animals. It was an imp quirk at best to be a big jerk in public places.

"I reccon we do! In fact, if I can race you to the city's big , bad cathedral first, you can give the bald man a noogie for all I care!" The white haired dog gaped as if he had lost all of his teeth from a disorienting blow to the gut. "Are you insane, lousy crackerjack!-

"Hush up, foxie loxie. " The cat's counterpart shot back with a hiss. "Kay had to wait until Hoji sold them out. He was not going to bet on wagering the heart of Italian faith to criminals for some major reasons...It was wrong! Oh, so very, VERY, WRONG!

"What do you propose then?" The cat asked if it meant she wanted every detail laid out as they awaited the start of the cat's little game.

Ming purred back interested as Shoji had suspected of her curiosity. "What are your conditions. Rules? You must have some experience as a world class con-artist!" The cat woman smirked as her dangerous glare left the heavenly official Kay to worry, not just in his own mind- this was reality for once on Planet Earth they were gambling away!

"Pedestrians are off limits, cars can be stolen. Only, the rest is that no destruction 'except' for the roads is ok, those can be fixed faster than bones can heal. Well, if they are even able by what I can tell. You want to test my theory on that? Then no human casualties. Just we two. Kay, you hold the time and use it wisely." Veravakumu pointed to the halfway point's direction. "You'll be there with Charl. He can't miss this spat with his beady-eyed vengence. No real imp can properly resist chaos or turmoil." The fox hybrid chuckled while his cousin just walked on. He then flew off towards the halfway route as Shoji was on his own.

The white fox blinked and remembered that he had forgotten something important.

"You had better make auntie a rich vixen! No tricks!" Kay shouted back before he could gather his cousin's reply

"Sayu's always wanted me dead and gone since the day I could see the sun on my world." The cat nervously chuckled for that. "Ah, she won't hate my bones being misplaced. "The dog grabbed the door to the car he intended to take. "Set?"

"Now! _Go!_ I haven't the entire year to complain like you misfits!" The cat frowned and opened the door to her stolen tool. "You'll be a lap dog and fodder to my leader , if the citizens are of course off limits by the time I'm through with your petty example!"

Shoji mocked Lao Ming with tisk sounds as he swerved over enter inside his Lamborghini ( typo I know.)

"Here, kitty kitty!" Shoji's counterpart knew a fast he saw one, so he took command as the revving engine made Ming's ears raise up in suspiscion. "Hey!" She twisted herself to break the other car's window, then shoved her foot into the floor as soon as she had contorted herself to fit - into the vehicle's driver seat she sat with a need for speed. .

"No rise to glory! Fire with fire...you messed with the wrong hound! Now..Taste my ignition!" The cat hollered as if his life were no longer on hold till the end of time. **_"Whhhooo!"_** The teen aged Vee would have jumped up for joy by the events. This adult however, was anxious and afraid to lose, very afaid since he had bet a very large portion of church and state of a foreign nation like a dodo!

 _"Mmrrraaagh!"_ The cat sped up to catch the cat.

"Cat and mouse?" The black dog's alter twisted the gears to ache under his palm. "Fire!" He let out as out as the cars started to move. The spell was done. The freeway was alive and a deadly zone to navigate through to the finish line !

"Vee!" Come Attem!" The white haired fox shouted before staring eye to eye with the levitating Charl.

/

"All in a knight's work!" The evil sorcerer chuckled before manifesting a cup of coffee for the afternoon.

"No tea for ya, mate?" The mutt below smirked as if he were not being undermined by the Parisian spirit. " Coffee is bitter, I was afraid to drink a plain beverage...sigh*..such a sorry end this will be.." He paused with the cup back to his lips. The secretive type was this gentleman's forte'.

"What are you up to?" Kay raised his fists to fight, though remembered what was at stake.

The chuckling fiend decided to spill some of his secrets until he had had enough fun.

"I have a hunt going on at the moment." He explained. "This is just a horse race to you , em...Well. Others work while we play games.." Charl sipped his coffee as Kay had a feeling that THIS Charl was not the imp..Rather...

"Who are you, and I did notice that the imp's counter is less than reserved than you...So then mind _me. **WHO**_ are _you?"_

The ceramic cup clinked against the male's matching saucer with a sharp, clack*. He was irritated enough as it was..

"Caffeine (typo?) never really made things better..deary, me..*"

"Second time this has gone about in the wrong direction I would have wanted...Why is my disguise this pitiful you ask!" The voice before had been a bit more masculine than this new one. A child!

"His _employer?"_ The fox squinted his eyes. His arms were crossed over his chest and his hair stood up with seven tails of a youbi royal. "My name, I think you should know it..And yet that all depen!-

"I am seriously spent over all the quips you easily haveta' spurt out! I normally, by the way, throw uneeded quips like yourself, out as trash ! You would have to run if this isn't an outcome at all, if you are nothing but a con yerself! Aarrhh!" The fox shot after the levitating sorcerer, yet he was protected by a forcefield.

"Coffee was a bad idea, really...Just WHAT came over me all of a sudden!" The brunette brought a weary arm to lay across his vision. A dramatic pose of a torn villainous male had the fox wonder, who's invisible mask was this in plain sight before him?

The fox broke the silence again. Waiting too long was an outdated concept.

"You know my name, right?" Kay brough a palm to pat his chest, directing the imposter to look his way. "Then if you tell me your's-

 _"Useless!"_ The brat barked as that same arm fell to the brunette's side. With a languid sigh of defeat, the faker again spoke. "Only a cluster of your kind care to recall my rank, or granted age. I was a useless student- Humm..Still can't guess?"

He turned his eyes of blue to meet with Kay's silvery sights. "Then I will gladly, en- light-en ..you!"

The brat flew to face the angry youbi with his forcefield still unbreakable. "I was a friend of the red dragon..The lord of manifestation...I was a fan, if you will...When he had another name to be called by...Still? Damned are you really..So, you recall nothing of my story?"

The bratty snot disguised as Charl, or controlling him, laughed as he drifted back up to his perch above the fox's head. The fox was without a valid answer Defeated by words. How perfectly delightful!

"Find _any_ Immortal!" He sneered . "See if they remember my hatred of them any clearer!" The face and voice of Charl finally returned as he stopped himself to return the toppled coffee cup to his bleach, white gloved hands. "My employer is young and a hurting soul. " The Paris once- born spirit sipped his drink as the white fox remained perplexed.

Kay felt his throat go dry.

"The Immortals..Only a few remain today!" The dog fret over the kid's confession. "As we sit here..he , you have plans to find our lady!" The mutt huffed before letting his dragon form of mist scour the streets for Lady Catherine.

"Rules aside, I too have a familiar or three to command. " Kay was interrupted by a randon sentence, whatever the demon had planned next!-

Charl chucked the tea cup aside and returned with both of his fists, curled in front of them. He kept them shut before allowing them to open up slowly. Kay readily examined this trick as his kitsune senses went off all too easily.

In one palm of the imp's there was a blue butterfly with wings so vividly drawn that you could drown in those deep and mournful colours. The other palm held a beautiful Luna moth that had been resting peacefully in its master's open hand, until he had called its name aloud. As if excited, the creature fluttered by the sorcer's ears , back and forth before landing back into Charl's open palm.

"Lune? Nuit? Very poor choice of names, it is easy to call them back to me, even so!"

The fox was impressed, though turned his head to mock the characters with a sly grin. "You have animals smaller than the mass of my king of kingly forms? Eh?" He tutted to the wily assassin with a grin on his cocky face. Kay waved a hand and laughed as he did so. Well, let them float, bloke?!-

"How many butterflies from one dimension of the dead to another.?" The sorcerer asked Kay as he paused to answer back.

"It is a legend, a myth. You do not...how..?" His face turned towards the insects again.

"Number upon numbers of deal souls ...Nuit! To the sky!" The butterfly manifested as dozens upon dozens of the colourful, blue creatures found their way after ...the dragon!

"Lune? Put him to rest!" Kay reached for his staff, though saw a mesmerizing moon light glow emit from the moth's wings. He was stunned on the spot! The daring smirk of the other sorcerer was definite, as the moth left flecks of powder to fall, only once it had reached Kay's shoulder. "Argh! Poison!?" The fox felt numb all too soon. He was dropping fast into the street..

His heart..everything was through...!

"C..cu..cuz..." He groaned as the air whipped against Kay's neck, as knives ready to slice him apart like Lao Ming wanted.

/

Kayu WOULD HAVE flopped* to the ground with a heavy smack - his form of a dragon had concentrated its strength long enough to catch the aspect and escape Nuit's swarm. The massive beast fell with the fox on its back, just in time to break the kitsune's fall. Kay rolled over and recovered his injured aspect to heal inside his current form. "Cough!*" His lungs were battered by the rushing air. The dragon had done so much more, he hoped it would healin time..his limbs , were rather weak..

"Des...t..."

"You did not die yet?" The assassin looked down before coming to check the damage his critters had done. Kay stared back and squinted into Charl's orbs of an unearthen green. The evil sorcerer snorted before expecting only what the natural order, would do to his victim. It was chow time. Time for the mongrel to pay..

"If you fall asleep, Lune will lay eggs inside of your skull. It matters little to our plans. " The evil magic user shrugged his arms and seemed to care less for the fox's health. "Miss Daia is our target today. You will just have to lose before the race has begun! " The evil male laughed as his boot soon brushed the near done dog's cheekbone. "I wish you could have seen the result of your relative's folly! It was funny to me..Though, Ming loves a good competition! Oh, Tres'(best of word processor ...) Bien!" The brunette laughed again before commanding his blue butterfly cluster to keep the dog, 'down and out.'

The brat's boots lifted to the air as Kay's arm was pummeled by dozens of blue terrors..

"Nngh! _**Nooo!"**_ He cried out as his fire started to ache. Bloody ached like sin! (Kay is like Ron, with citizenship from New Zealand and the U.K. Sayu is not fully, but one of her many consorts may have been Kaien..Gross, I know...)

 _"Ahahahh!_ What _fun_ it will be to make your allies **_suffer!_** My leader bids you an unpleasent visit to the afterlife! Fair thee well obnoxious hound!"

Charl was laughing, yet that child's aura might have already made its motives crystal clear. The pope and Catalina Daia were in grave danger- so redundant but it was true!

Kay could only try his hardest to teleport away from the insect's cluster- swarm. They attempted to drag him under, burying their feelers into him as if the fox were their next dish on the menu to be served raw!

"Have..to warn...No!" His body was spore ridden by the moths now. They came as cars collided which way and the fox, did in fact alert Solario of his presence.

Kay gurgled up saliva while he tried to remain conscious. The burning sun seemed so hot...the atmosphere..

 _ **~Gangwaay!~**_ The wide eyed, befuddled pooch looked up as a ray of sunlight did break the insects' hold on the son official. A summoned energy so bright, that the gods...gods...By GODS!

"Uncle...!" The fox craned his neck as he saw the dopey hound in his firey form of a spit fire hybrid. ~Where did I go wrong with yeh two?" The animal revert to Solario's casual dress as a famous man around Italy's fashion trends. For some reason, he looked...younger...and his beard was near, non- existant!

"You hold on, little nephew!" The dog growled as his breath of a thousand , stinging rays hit the swarm with such force, that Apollo had to have returned with such an attack!

"You..are at full strength.." The fox son knelt, panting heavily through his bruising lips. Biting them had not been a safe thought. In order to gather his strength, he would have to recharge soon , mama or no mana required. The invertabrates (typo?)were no longer a threat. Kaien had obliterated them into ash, he was quite a powerhouse while off the bottle.

"An' you look like you've seen better days , yerself." The fire hound snort, then brought an arm out to help Kay from the ground. "How was your flight in? Heard you had a round up on board Air France? Your life be a movie, but you're not in control of that." Kay shrugged as he forced himself to his feet. After the shock, he felt utterly mortal in comparison to Shoji's public profile. "Where are the other daemon and deity?" He asked .

Kaien helped his nephew as he now stood to face the old codger. "We had a break in ties. Isis is still in, Hecate went solo. And that Kitsune kit..."

"You mean, Kaede? The sister of the fox familiar, Haru from Tokyo?" Kay recalled.

"Yep, an' she went out of her way to lose tuh an unfortunate turnin' , a run in with the mastermind had her lose her way.." He shook his head with a tisk, tsk. * "Kiddo was always griping on humans and their ways..we were part human our self- when deity were brought into existance by their dreams, greed, lust for more..nok bettter er worse I say."

"Kaede..." Kayu looked to the pavement, at a loss for words. "Is Amaterasu...is she alright?"

"She expected it, that's why Isis had to force Hecate to back down. The two were controlling. Trying to steer the other off course. Kaede has been like this fer a long while...more than befer' Ami an' the Graysons er' Titans.."

"I don't have to ask for the rest." Kay put a hand on his uncle's shoulder. "Eh, thank ya kindly. You always were the softest kit of your mum's litter. Just saying by fox terminology..hope your ridecwas smooth sailing-

"No, in fact." Kay remembered Catalina and looked away to the roads. "Unc, if you have that much power left, we need to jam it to the pope's haunt. Pronto-

"Are ya expecting ta' have a brawl on our hands?" The fire hound was quick to pick up on the white dog's scent. Fear, anxiety, all melded together in a warm crust. Not a pretty picture..

"Perhaps. But Shoji was tricked into a race that will determine the final outcome. " Solario's eyes widened as if the other had stepped on his big toe without an apology.

"You..bet on human lives!? How much time do yah' got, man!? This is **NOT** to be taken as a tame ocurrence! Are ya outta yer bone - pickin' minds! You had better make it there an fast. I won't slow down if my job and country is at stake."

"As Apollon?" Kay wondered as his surging energy came to rest, once again willing the fox to move.

Solario flared up as his levitation was at 'full steam ahead. '

"I haven't got time fer questions that don't have ta do with saving the big man in Roma! Pronto my arse you pony- boy! No pit stops! Here on out, I'll box Shoji over if he puts out another bright idea! Got that, kiddo?"

"It was his plan, not mine!" Kay groaned as his powers came back to life, lifting him as the Kayumon form became his mask to portray.

~Who's he racing, might I haveta' ask what we are dealin' with? Cause' your dummy duo sounds like it has the last thing covered alright!~ Kaien was angry at Vee..He would throw him in the brig for this sort of tomfoolery! (typo?)

~A tenkit assassin and her cohort. A sorcerer whom has the ability to astrally voice his master's plans..rather the master uses him as a puppet. ~ Kay replied as the next turn above meant a few more miles by vehice.

~A she- demon, most of the race is feminine by their 'dominant' gene pattern'. Ya,..eh...have a thought that ya' won't hold out on yer uncle? Not after Shoji lightens up ta' speak his last peace, can we bed this bully conflict down then?~ Kay looked on towards his relative with s smirk.

~Not a very peaceful resolution you have for my cousin, do you uncle?~ The fox must have inwardly held back a snigger. Yet Kay felt that this was an undeserved punishment for some, whatever reason. Vee had tried, just not so timely had been the cause they were now about to remedy..To forget what Kaien had done seemed all but possible. He had harmed them after caring for that short while...Abandonment in the spirit world was a crime. Almost being banished,was as ad as the dragon's criminal record.

/

While the three guardian foxes took to brooding till the late afternoon, our heroes on a roll , rolled on towards their next playing field of sorts..

The heroes had Vespa to show the group around the festival that day. Hours from the main city, the Titans and guardians had an interestimg tour of San Remo with their new elemental body guard . She was beautiful, but also smrter than the dogs combined. Raven took to observing the interesting hound before her form had to say otherwise. The empath was baffled by a shadowless daemon stalking the woman's every move..

Touche' indeed. (A little over use of the phrase but it works, no one is paying me to write full time..yet!)

"Ooh-ooh! Richard, my darling! Shoud we not partake in the local quiz- zine?-

"Nothing curious about a hearty bite for YOUR appetite, Kori." Her husband remembered that the alien princess had the fasted metabolism than any Titan he had ever met in person. She could eat ten whole pizzas without showing an inch of bloat. Still, after having three kids, Kori tried to not act as she had in her teens. With a wave, the rest wasdecided. "Enjoy the fare if you wish it!" Vespa chuckled as her feet waltzed over to Ronald with a gleam in her violet eyes.

"Should I bother to ask why these tourists are after the festival's biggest attraction ?" She looked upset, rather as Ron still had tried to be cautious around the witch . "Vespa...we should discuss this as-

"Later will be much too soon, cousin..You should just relax...there is everything your heart could want, in one place!-

"Vespa!" She slithered over and he had to clam up immediately. "Tell them why you left your late post. Don't let me carry the weight or I will explain everything.." She was trying to blackmail him. Had the night before proven nothing at all?!

"I...was a musician , before the accident...they don't have to worry.." Ron gulped as she had never cared for keeping a distance. "My blood is thinning, talk or I will find a way . " She turned away with a huff when the dog of lightening just gave Vespa the cold shoulder. "Owch..very rude. " She had her eyes to the massive crowd as it bodded about like a wave on the high seas. "The first act is starting. Care to trigger that memory with me while?" Her stare had Ron blush. It was official. This was far worse than being in the same room as bloody Aria!

" Belittle me all you want . " He studdered- studdered!

"Fine then, you did not ask for my kindness. Not really, what a rude brat you've become. "

"Does a school of fish drown faster than you? " He shook with the cat eyed daemon staring the pup's way. "I chose to come by how he Titans needed my help, by how Vee is useless until we reunite as a single unit! " He avoided her annoyed orbs as the far away crowds cheered the name of the evening's rising pop sensation. "The woman is a spy for the real mastermind..Still, just play along."

"Thought you hated my guts? " The vixen laughed as her hands were to her sides. Long and slender in her billowing top, she craned her neck to tilt her head in her flustered cousin's direction. "You can fight in skirts , right?" Ron asked with his back still to the witch. Vespa responded with a wide smirk. "I was taught to weild a javelin during my, many generations, whilst draped in a dozen shades of red. My creed in this is nothing , not to fashion statements, not to you of all my family members.." Her stare became serious. She looked Ron for a decision. "Your helpless batch of heroes needs all of the dogs to function." Her frowning face now looked to the stage, where an idol's start had only just begun.

Ron huffed as his white top fluttered about , his jacket did nothing to keep out the brisk chills he felt crawl up and down his spine. "I hope you are prepared." He said this with much a warning in his voice.

The starlette's audience cheered as a smoggy batch covered the way, then clearing as she rose from the floor. Magically, Ron felt his claws extend slightly. He dragged out a sound as Vespa listened with her eyes narrowing towards the stage as well. His words were very clear.

With his eyes glued onto their target, the dog muttered with a lasting reflection to the outdoor concert's, endless sky.

"I just hope so."

/

Agatha had been discouraged by her late meeting, the Green hero had not even come to her show!

(Rewind!)

(Let's set things straight. Agatha disguised herself as a run of the mill festival goer to grab the Titans' attention. Day one for her plans was NOT a bust and I will explain everything in due time. Vespa the group met after the first day had ended. Ron knows a lot of people too. Read on into this chapter for the conclusion! )

The queen of the supposed stage tonight, was luckily able to have her opening act sick as dogs in bed.. Her performance was advanced to earlier...but wait!

~I sense sorcery..Unlike my own!? ~ Agatha was yet to jump onto that stage. She had to know the reason, who was radiating such an aura beforeher big number!? The green one! Yes! Her hypnotized lap dog would willingly( scracth that, would openly subject himself into doing Aggie's dirty work without protest) do the rest. He just did not know when SHE could and would think to summon the unfortunate adult's unsightly end..

"As they say, the show must go on!" Aggie-G was going to be well missed if the performance tonight was cancelled...hmm...

I thinka recall ofmy previous strategy is in order..." Aggie thought as her ears listened to the shouting fans of her collaborative intro. "I should decide soon..Oh well!" The girl shrugged and stepped up onto a large platform as it lifted from below the stage. "Not only that, but those dogs followed my scent on their own ...I will shut the down first!" She grinned before putting on her most dazzling appearances for all to bear witness.

Even those filthy dogs..

Hello! Sanremo Italy!" The girl knew that the young and honest were alright with a touch of in(im? created poorly written slang while eating brain food for breakfast...bah!) formalities. Yet she had to keep to the culture, nevertheless!

" Tutti sono pronti per stanotte !? " Sh called out as many fans cheered back to say in many language basd dialects, yes!

With a dressy top of billowing sequins, and a min skirt that was still able to cover everything as she jumped, Aggie- G had no trouble addi g to her earlier remark. "Grida se ho regione!?" She put a hand to her ear, leaning in to hear the guests way back in the further seating spots- everyonestood, so they had to shout even louder!

 **"Ok!"** She returned to English with a high pitched yell. "Then get ready! Here we go _SANREMO!"_ Aggie's silver locks swished as she tithed to her base guitarist , who had been masked in shadows as-

R-the lightening dog!?

"Ah...yeah!" The starlette returned to her pointing as she turned to drums next-

"Wha!-

"Cliff...that..that!

"Hah!..Keys we have!-

"It was Vespa..this was a nightmare! They were not supposed to be on stage!

 _"Annd...?.."_ She whispered song continued as the idolized singer met her match. A tune that was out of this world brought Aggie to quake when she'd seen a blue eyed doll. Esme had come to duel poor Agatha to her demise! A microphone by her ear, the Portugal native brought the beat to bounce. Her specialty was usually trance on the europop scene. Cliff had to sit this one out for the cherub to light this ex- priestess's fire. Aggie was no match!

The crowd was still lit by the sounds - the magic of a nereid was impressive indeed...

"I will bring you to grovel." The blue eyed miss grunted her rival's way. Ron set his eyes on hiding how great he really was - from hi incident then,to his return by Vespa's prying. The keys she could play better than anyone Ron had met during hs career as a rock star. That said a lot for the fox's ego. The Vesperion sister was electrifying the stage with her soulful sound!

~And if we should go, down, down...I want you to see..the light that filled my _eyes,_ is something that...belongs to _me!_ ~ Esme was a natural as her sound went hig low, sad, joyful in moments. The power of a royal nereid princess!

~I fall with _you!~_ The chorus went to Aggie as she tried to keep her tongue loose as a cloud , floating over the waters of Esme's homeland. ~I come to you! You fall, I fly...we go into ..the sea-

~Wait!?~

Vespa let her magic work its wonders as her eyes reached the pathetic sight that was Agatha, traitor of the Delphi order. Waves of an illusion pulled the sequined miss in. She had to..try harder!

~CRASHING INTO MY HEART! I will not dive below to find what's missing...this is ..my realization...find me into the ocean! Take my breath with each kiss! I lose to your advances b-

/

 **~Wah!~** The pop idol awoke. She had been dreaming of her demise..her win was a false reality...

~Awake at long last?~ A far away voice grew to make Agatha jump upin surprised shock. "Wh-who!? Wh-what was that voice!?" She called out as her studder only worsened. ~The crowd outside is readying for your arrival.~ The voice seemed pitying in its tone. Agatha's heart sank as her eyes widened to see out the w-

"In my trailer.." She sighed by the mistaken dream. "Why did I dr..Did you send a vision? Who are you, and where are you hiding!? " She was frantic as the room remained dark, all save for a light above the mini kitchen of the veicle's many luxuries.

~I am , what your puny master hopes to become by starting this fiasco to its finish. ~ The voice must have had shoulders to shrug by its improper wording of a chaotic ploy...wait!

"How do you know anything about my employer?" Aggie growled as she turned around to locate the mocking voice. "No one but Charl or myself should have a clue! "

~I know quite a lot.~ The voice was smirking, it had to be this confident. That aura around the room had Aggie's skin prickle. "You...are not a spirit, a strong one but..." Her eyes popped as the daemonic spirit's laughter had the girl look up. ~I , am no mere storyteller.~ The item as not a spirit, but a tome.

"That..you are he!" She cried and early fell out of her seat, despite the arm rests.

The cackling book levitated without another magician to bind it. It had free will!? Would Marcus be on his way to recapture it? "I..do not believe you are the real tome of my leader!" The silver eyed woman barked as a light smile popped out onto her cheeks. "Why would I be fooled by an appearance from some possible spy or imposter? What are your abilities anyway?-

~I, in truth, can grant realities to even the bleakest of a soul's existance. ~

Aggie thought for a moment before laughing at the answer. _"Ohoh!_ Am I to think that instead of Marcus wishing for a rise to power, instead he chooses the _longest_ route? Was I born to bow to a **book!?"** The girl crossed her arms and snorted. "A tome can always grant for its owner to be happy. The price IS his soul! " She then pointed at the ugly, shadowy thing hiding in the darfkest corner of the van. "What are you hoping to accomplish ? My crowd is growing impatient ..might as well tell me your plans to dethrone Sir Borgges! I'm waiting!"

The silent spook soon burst out into a fit of laughter once more, this time the room swum with an excess amount of energy. Aggie gripped her skull as she felt her patience was wearing thin. "Is this a comedy tour bus? I am not joking! You must!-

 _~Ahh!_ What passion, rage, tenacity and wit! Malady! You must become my newest contracted!~ The book seemed as giddy as a child by the idea of a new accomplice. Treason was alays optional, yet Aggie shook her head as the book's energy seemed to turn a shade of blue. ~No?~ It asked, still treating her beneath itself by its tone.

"No, I have a leader who is not as cruel as you might guess." She lied. He was a vile person if ever she had been manipulated by the more order seeking Baphomet. "I will not disobey orders. You just want a way outsided of those pages. How stupid do you think I am!? " She was annoyed, angry that the show could not start sooner.

~Pity, you refuse the task then? Is his kindness that tender, or is his hold over your life more important?~ The grin was back as the ex- priestess was again forced to lose her temper, to studdering in a whining mass.

"How! If you are Sir Manifesto's spirit, locked away inside the tome I see before me..then you should not bother to complain if your plans bear no fruit!" She spitefully added. The tome hoiwever, seemed amused moire so by her resilience than anything in the known world could concoct. (typo?

~What if I erased something important from his mind? Then he wouldnever harm you, not until your own revenge of course?~ A book that talked of treasonous acts and vengeful ways? Aggie turned her head to the stairs. "I have a concert tonight." She sniffed. "I refuse to borrow your magic wand , it oesnot suit my hand ." She replied so coldly towards the book, that arms stretched out as tendrils to capture the unsuspecting Agatha once she turned around.

 _"Wah!"_ Her eyes grew wide as her struggling was all but useless without her true guise. This human body was weak! He had been draining her magic all this time!

~You will come to know my intentions...For Marcus is our enemy...I know more than you give credit, my dear...And tonight!~ The tome started to glow as its light nearly blinded Aggie , sending her into a trance by its strange powers. ~Your eyes will be on capturing the crowd! Draining their life forces in masses! And those petty pooches? We do have a history.~ The tome was with a gloating aura as it recalled days of chaos and calamity upon its living hours.

~Little puppet? You will send your word loud and clear.~ The tome was grinning again with its jaws a face to the book's cover. As large as a dragon's.

"Y-y-es...si-sire.." She thought it was Marcus! How sweet! The demonic book cackled as it set down its prey. ~Break a leg out there! ~ The book's words brought a zombi- fied smile to the woman idol's pale face.

"Yes sir..." She said without studdering this time. His projectile arm pat the girl on the head as a reward. To think that this single gesture was no longer the greatest consequence of being brainwashed by a magical relic...

/

As far as what went on with a Miss Sakurano, the rest was not all rainbows and smiles for our character to unravel the greatest mystery of all-

By the lower level of Takahara Shoji's laboratory , was a room that distinctly looked and should have in fact been, off limits to anyone and everything. Ayane's senses picked up traces of alchemaic progress by the sensation althogether..

"He is saving something of true importance in this sector. I wonder.." Ayane would have struck herself had the reason not been so clear. "It is dangerous. I have to see what Marcus has made of my employer's work!"Her key card activated the locks as the passage slowly widened. She decided , be it Lori's magic, that Shoji would be freed from the conviction of all he had commit himself-

"No, no..." Ayane gasped by what lay in plain sight as the doors slid now, wide open.

"It can't be!" Her eyes saw two specimen in glass containers , set in place by magical spells and the scientific arts.

A blood red scale to the first, and in the second container...A mass of smog ...a tainted spirit.

"I hate prying eyes like your own." Ayane swung around as the voice belonged to none other than Mr. Borgges. He stood in the door way as lights flickered on, the doors shut to trap them both inside.

Ayane frowned and expected the mastermind to deliver a monologue. Instead, Borgges quietly admired his work with a nod. "Hum, it was not easy collecting the portions of both soul and body." He thought this aloud, making the situation seem like a big joke. Ayane was not all business, but at times, some workers turned out to be troubled or lazy. Either way, she had to redierect the boy's attention.

"Why a scale, and a trapped soul inside a glass cyl-

"Should you not already have the answer? The stories dfonot lie- you were his consort! Am I right?-

 **"How!"** Ayane gasped and looked again towards the blood red scale. Her eyes remembered what Lori had chosen to forget. ~That is why she is silent here..it is a cursed place!...dear ...no!~

"I thought you wanted to personally outshine the same dragon!?" She shouted . Marcus was not lisyening as he piushed buttons at random by the wall. Ayane flung herself over to the console as her spell rained down onto the controls-

It was easily rejected by a forcefield that protected the keys from recieving any water damage. Ayane's jaw was glued shut by the let- down and disappointment she felt. As a secretary..she _wasn't_ going to save her country!

"You missed, well..I do think it high time that I show you exactly what lies inside of that full- glass, test tube! My ressurection of the century!" He tossed a small disc Ayane's way as she dodged, falling onto the hard floor with a grunt. Her eyes turn turned to the glass cylinder (typo..) again.

~Countless were my long nights spent dreaming of that moment..the moments lost that I could have crushed my enemy!-...It turns out that he is in fact, not whom we had suspected. This! In this shroud!-

Ayane's eyes were glued to the mass in its container.

~IS MANIFESTO- then **_WHO_** IS PARADING AROUND AS A NAUGHTY, TOME? **_HUMM?!~_** He was just as Hecate and Lori , all of the gods had suspected..A boy of delusions.

"I...cannot answer that -

 _~Too_ bad! ~Marcus laughed as his arm reahed for a button hidden beneath a separate panel. "I give to to you...the red king , the one imposter of my bleeding book! My story teller in the flesh as we wait your demise!~

"You are making a major mistake!" Ayane shouted back. "That red king is a monster..a soul stealer with more power even while dismembered!" She warned of Roku's ability to manipulate by both force or by devouring the previous host( should another demon have been present inside of the latest victim. )

 **~Phoo!** All excellent on your part..but Raku and I?~ Lori was about to return from her sleep, yet the area drained the woman's energies far too easily to remain dormant. ~We go waay back! School mates ! Professionals, but he! HE LEFT BEFORE GRADUATION! The twad is a liar and I will make him work for ME until all eternity comes to a close! ~ Marcus was mad, how had he kept himself a leader all this time well? Ehem, Charl and Lao Ming were not the least bit entertaining themselves. Though their employer was just plain cuckoo!

"The dragon is gone!" Ayane tried to explain to the ugly hearted child.

"You **lie!"** The brat shook his head with a grin. "He has always called out! Even now his strength permeates all of me...he was the one demon that dared to smite all I stood for...all I hoped o become...his master then devoured my innocent self whole( again quoting wattpad story veil of time arc. ) His innocence was gone well before any of us! You think I would let that power he holds wither to ash ? A djinn! A miracle bringer! He will give me eternity , the entire world will know the truth!~

The red scale was glowing beneath the glassy surface. Raku was going to be ressurected! No! Ayane dove to stop the bratty boy from realizing his outcome. Lori's magic poured out from Sakurano's fingertips. She spoke words tat hopefully would shaller the forcefield away.

~Might of the great waters , seas of earth and skies of azure...turn this enemy to foam by my power!~

"A siren's host? How shoddy ! How _bland!_ **My** power can crush yours to fall back down towards your hidden cove! ~

He saw her magic and frowned before getting ready to fight back. "I do see how serious a former consort to the dragon-

"He lied about all that he meant to me! A con and a monster! You should stay well aware of that tale to its finish!~

The foam did surround Marcus to try and devour him from the depths of an ocean horror story. ~I have you now.~ Lori's eyes were there watching from within her vessel. "Then allow me to drain the waters dry!" Marcus pulled out a smaller version of the tome, which had Ayane up the ante of her attack.

~Story to tell, story to thrive, let the beast of the underrealms, come alive! Spirit of east, meeting of the west, Yomi creature you now have become through my test! Arise! Kitsune of Japan's great lore!~ (Marcus is like a lunatic 'fan boy' or fanatic, so he tends to describe Kaede's origin country's legends as ' great lore '. Actually, this could be generalized heavily when kitsune have other names and origins where they are found in numerous folk tales as master tricksters. Korea, China, and more than even that but wolves, coyote, more dogs of folklore have a good amount of fables surrounding the canis genre all across the globe. Nothing too overly- explanitory but it makes sense that he only ses what's right in front of him. )

The one person that came from the pages of that book, had 'blade fingers' which protruded from the corners of Marcus's relic, all the more horrifying as it dragged itself out from between the cursed spine. Sakurano drenched the book and Borgges by the woman's magic, only to see that her attack wasnot enough..

The story character's **_rrrip*_** of claws had the secretary's spell nullified, as the invading daemon levitated to rise above the two, sorcerer and sorceress.

"Kaede?.. _No!"_ Sakurano saw the fox guardian and tried to understand..

Kaede had always been troubling to her sister- but turning to the enemy's side!?

Marcus shut the book with a loud clap, as the pages sealed away his worst weapons for a much later time. Kaede looked to be under his control, though her rage was still there. Her eyes were red with a fury not all her own ..at least Ayane hoped it wasn't Marcus controlling poor Kaede's memories...or that she could still listen to reason!

~ Kaede, capture the witch! I must finish what has only just begun!~

The kitsune traitor nodded and set her sighed on Sakurano's attacks next. ~ You should have stayed inside your room. ~ The fox spoke through the speak as her lips never seemed to move.

"I wasn't about to allow this defilement of Shoji's hard work!" The secretary was left to defend her title and her boss's, as usual..

"He won't be returning. This is my fortress !" Marcus cried out as Ayane did not have a moment to dodge the fox's sharp claws.

~Hold _still!~_

Kaede dropped her arm to back against the secretary's wind pipe. It hurt! Ayane kicked the fox before trying a new spell. It did not work, there room was too toxic to allow another craft the time of day!

The silvery haired boy walked up to the red scale as it illuminated the floor. He held book in his palms to become an offering for the red lord's missing piece. "Stop! You are making a !-

Thhe windy entrance of the new soul flew right inside of the tome from inside the glass cylider. ~Manifesto is I! I will manifest your dream's reality! My gods, you will all recognise this day in time!~

Ayane saw as Kaede was also losing her energy to the soul sucker spirit inside that monstrous tome. The two almost forgot that a fight had been going on, that -

 **~Agh!** The red headed teen!~ The fox exclaimed as her eyes turned from glassy to fully aware of her current surroundings. "You were not _turned!?"_ Ayane thanked her lucky stars, but still had less time to stop Marcus from destroying the city.

~He is an idiot!~ Kaede huffed with a growl in her voice towards her ex- master . ~ I was controlled through my anger towards you humans. I thought that this was for certain the reason...but now!~ The fox pointed to the boy on his way towards an unsightly demise. He had to be stopped at all costs!

~A girl was trying to save me..She had the eyes of a lion - dog and the fiery temper of a ho- oh . It would be unwise to let h -

"You don't _mean!?"_ Ayane let that feeling click, then Lori stepped out to seek her new enemy out personally.

~Let my grandchild free from those horrid pages! _**MANIFESTO!~**_

Anna was still captive within the book their enemy held...how could this be happening so fast!?

/

Charl rushed on after Kay as the imp in man's form only forced its way after the light dog, just to mess with him some more before Lao Ming won the race.

Shoji was flying by with Catalina miles away . She must have gone to warn his holiness, the pope in time. Catalina however had another or two on the inside for this task already. Cici dropped her pen and her head down onto her desk with a hard sigh. "Finito!" The girl's Italian was only suffering by her hapless appetite having been neglected since that morning. "I must have a snack to boost my level-

"Pardon! Miss Daia!" The one to run into her work room without permission was a fae critter in the form of a mortal of the current plane. His ears were as moons and he had large eyes as a child's own curious nature could likely compare. His hair was blonde and short, a bit messy with a set of freckles against his small cheeks. He wore green robes of a separate order, only here as a messenger by Lady head priestess Melu's say-so. He was innocent yet alert for the sake of his mission here on Earth. That, he believed was a proper way to confront of a witch of both darkness and order by such short notice.

"Mistress! The pope is in danger! We have picked up a message sent from Miss Catalina , here in the city!" The boy looked desperate. Cici's head rose as her ears were nearly as wide as this trainee's, two moon crescents.

"You are, Angus O'Brian of the wood elves' sister clan of Ireland's territory, correct?" (This is incorrect by far.  
His first name is Scottish by origin. The other Irish so he is actually of the region, not the country (countries) alone. Since these characters were of the past as magical or non magical beings, Angus is not bound strictly of boarders- not until walls and armies are assembled! Monarchies never started out without bloodshed to some, ah..bit generalized, so never mind the banter!)

Cici raised her eyes again to meet the tiny one's own two. Cecilia recalled a list of those folk whom had worked under Priscilla's old faction. The boy here was a by product of two faire folk , by now retiring for their child to take charge.

"Yes.." The boy answered with a gulp and a slow nod. Cici took to her only means of having the boy listen . He was so scrawny compared to her other followers..

She interlaced her fingers over her work desk to ask.

"Where was the message received?" Cecilia began. "At what time was the message found?" The boy opened his mouth to reply, yet the elder cut him off just as easily as she had let him speak up.

"Answer truthfully to me, or the pope may end up the last of his kind by your folly - Chop chop!" She commanded the meek boy to wake up as easily as the princess had in moments upon the child's arrival to dawdle. With her hands no longer clapping for the youth to go on, he took the opportunity to try even harder to gain her attention properly. Otherwise, no one would be safe..

"Oh, um! It was by 'speak' to our highest sages underground."Angus spoke of the ancient dying cult's good ears. His cheeks turned pink in embarrassment (mis spelled out of bad habit! Long week!) "The Crescendo faction head interpreted the coding in Mistress Catherine's words as an, s.o.s." He scrunched his palms together nervously, wringing his hands into a knotted ball. "I do not think that the summon will be positive for either-

"Speak less, we must be off." Cici demanded with her words brief, yet her movements swift as the summer skies' coolest breeze off the city's coastline.

"Y-yes!" The boy nodded and then salute his superior before heading back through the doorway. "Right this way, Malady Daia!" He went along first as Cecilia grabbed her cloak. They would go directly to meet with the holy folk still dwelling below the church's floorboards. (All fictional and created for the drama. No, propaganda here is NOT included! )

The sect of Crescendo was quieted by the footsteps of the priestess's next in line. Catalina was never the one to take on such a role, not as it had been Cecilia's all along to undergo the transformation. As the sect leaders described her in the past ; a spoilt girl whom had not the gall as her mother, to ever sway the masses by her influence alone, her mother's kin had never been considered right for the throne of Solaris.

"Mother needs her dearest child more than ever. " Cic breathed in the cold dust as her chilly skin felt the presence of darkness - a peering, leering squadron of holy folk that had not the sense to bring a single , modern lightinhg fixture way down below. The pope had a greater hold over their living, however, she had currently discovered this to be the sect's way of living.

"It's a tad dark, maybe even so we could be in the netherworld by the lack of lumination!" Angus held his capelet to his mouth. This place was of thedark arts, the unintended future in which all had to face eventually.

"The death of man will not come swiftly." Cici spoke this as Angus walked ahead. The pain in their throats meant thattheelements burning bynight were close. Very close in fact that Angus sneezed , enough to awaken a group of bats by the ceiling. This dwelling as a the patgh to the under-realms. Cecilia readied her body as an assault of power from the bats' screeching had the blonde grab the young fae boy, wrenching him torun from the shockwave of sound.

"Whhhaaa!" He crid out as they came to the side of a steep drop. Caves hadpits. Falling meant being dead by sunrise! Why was this rule so difficult to adjust to!?

"Dear gods! " The freckled fae studdered as his eyes grew wide. "By gods, are we done for!?" He covered his eyes and cowered as the bats' ecos encompassed their way down. Cici huffed, gripping thechild by his torso asher arms were given aid by the widow spirit she kept. "Let us rise to meet our hosts." She reassured the child with a smirk. Her lips might have been blood red by that grin of a wily fox. Better yet, she had a plan.

The magic in her fingers lit the cavers as will o - wisps had the bat creatures shy away. The magical fires of folklore were not of this reality. Cici was not human as far as he had known herself to already have passed on. Her eyes lit with the craft of her ancient ancestors. ~The name of gods and spirit, the floor below us opens to the other side of this abyss. Show us the true path we must face!~

She spoke nothing in latin. When your magic was powerful as gods' knowing, you could skip the formal banter, only until its use actually meant saving the planet from demonic forces..

Angus gasped as the ground groaned so heavily, as if refusing to bend to the young sorceress's will. ~Unbind your latch unto the abyssmal world!~ She commanded, as it quaked by her power. Light of moonlit gold and silver covered the dirt as the ground's enforcer finally succeeded. (late night lazy...typo, perhaps?)

"That's a lovely element!" She praised the earth, as if mocking it with her loving timbre. The two, boy and sorceress proceeded as the ground soon closed them down, deep within the earth's core. "Now, O'Brian?" She let the child free as soon as all had gone quiet. "Yes, I have an idea, Miss Daia.." His magic was at least enough to materialize a torch. The darkness was unpleasent, with its bearers being such backstabbers - they had wasted enough time as it was!

"Is this enough light?" Angus asked. Cici nodded and only looked ahead, not chancing towards becoming a favorite of this cute faire child's admiration. He was only here by the order of the Good Wood's new high priestess. Melu must have been surprised by the reaction, or would be once the Crescendo sect dished out some answers.

"Through a door, which one..." Cecilia remembered her last venture below and paused to recall it. The events had not all been erased. The council was secretive..Stupid, nonetheless after eons of hiding from facing reality she believed, and nothing more could change the old spirit for the better.

"Yes, alright then!" She turned soon to Angus and pointed for him to shine the torch on ahead. "We shall take that path, then the rest will not be withheld any further from us." She said.

Angus frowned and looked down towards the path. There was only a hall, eerie and dank as the dungeons of Dracul's terror. "Are we to take the rest of -

"Here we cannot wait." Cici shook her head as Angus picked up the pace,finding her movements to be brisk as a child's. "For we shan't have this door here again. Once it opens, we cannot come to this spot for quite a long while. "

The child did not try to ask why. He would discover soon enough why this had to be the case. It was only a matter of time . They had nothing to lose, nothing to sacrifice ...

Aggie G fretted over her big show. She paced the floor, talked to the ceiling like nothing could go wrong. Yes. Just as Cecilia 'Harpy-woman' Daia, Agatha had also jmped down the head executive's throat. She had even planted a spell on her dearest ally- her own teacher to forget everything for a while...why was nothing going well!?

"Why whywhyyy!?" She tousled and gripped her scalp madly, whinin in her highest pitch by the diva's sheer misfortune.

"Why did THEY show UUP!?" Her spoilt mannerisms were still as they had been to her teachers in the past. Ravenna must have been laughing. That same, insane laughter would only drive the diva further towards her revenge! Her revenge on her comrades of that ugly past!... She recalled the teasing, the bulling, and caring deeply for her teacher and that unrequieted lover's quarrel.. None of that mattered , the daemon girl huffed as she rose up.

"I am going to be the new queen, the one to see their faces once it hits those simpleton hard enough!" Her cackle was a sigh of relief as the evil cohort was ready, finally ready to face herself- those lights were bright, yet she was a glittering diamond's own essence of perfection!..

"Naturally, the dogs will need a playmate." Aggiequit her laughing a second to decide. "My employer specifically requested more free time on my behalf." She sighed again as the loud cries of her fans rocked the trailer, in her mind this was so. Outside, she was too far away to have heard a peep. "But, this fading suspicion has not left.." Aggie bit her lip, then turned to the exit. "Ah, well! I must not let my stalling be the end of San Remo's (typo I think) grand festival!"

~And as you wish it, they'll not come one foot towards your stage...~

"Y-ye...yes.." Aggie smiled nervously. Her memory was back in a blink, as the shivering girl turned from her shadowy dressing room to reply. "As you said..my wish...the dogs will be too busy to come and see me.." Her lips were chapped by the cold impression that spectre left over her trailer.

~Then break a leg, as they say..~ The spectre said with a twisted grin of hadows and dark miasma. Aggie nodded , shaken and terrified by what she had let free!

"As you say, I won't let Lord Borgges know my pain..." She grither fists and wanted to shout. "Or even my teacher's incarnate , that will never come to pass, ever again!"

Stopping this crazy coaster of multi - sides to our tale! So...

1.) The guardian dogs , Kayu and Vee , Kaien too, have to protect the pope and his followers from Charl and Lao Ming. If they gain entrance inside, Charl can asily impersonate the pope and steal his form. No way the cats are going to tango - it takes two after all!

2.) Catherine Daia is sort of a high priestess to an ancient cult that resides within the vatican's walls. She runs the rest as her superiors stay underground and keep a watch on the Underworld sect. Catherine's children, Alicia and Cecilia are of dual elements. Of sun and moon, Cici has inherited or will, the role of high leader to the Crescendo faction (you can call it a cult...) The Daia or day in this case , sounds close but not as realistic by the root of word, is of the light aspect or solar sect. Solaris as an example, in which Catalina Daia ruled this imaginary 'southern isles' country , now a guardian herself into the present. As she progresses in age and rank, another will have to take Catherine's place. Alicia was left with her vessel Lisa Viscado, yet Lisa is new to the whole idea of becoming a solar figurehead. Alice is the real face that is helping Lisa to navigate towards her own later outcome.

Alicia..passed on by how she was more so resurrected by Roku's power over Slade's mind and actions. She was there at the battle in the desert (from this previous arc's forbidden myth topic.) Secretly, she had a soft spot for Richard Ainsley. Even as she was said to have thrown herself into dangerous situation with Lord Roku over his chosen child. She was betrothed to him through the dragon's sick mind games. They are cousins so I left out that and replaced memory loss as a topic in the kingdom keep. (Robin is subdued, bad yhings happen, Slade loses control of the dragon's powers..yikes.) Arcs 1-10 can explain in pieces.. my grammar as a teen then...The epic showdown between races of the spirit world's past.

3.) Kaien currently watches over both sects proudly , since his older aspect was originally close to being Apollo. His name by the deity is in my tale, Apollon, interesting? Kaien's guise is not the same as his previous. He reserves his powerful strength of the sun and fire in this 'crotchety old male form.' Vee, Ron and Kay are forced to hate their uncle by his betrayal, yet they meet later again when Hecate is not present. Why is she after Aiden anymore? Or rather, why has she stayed in the shadows for so long?

4.) Vespa and Ron's history is an estraged one. She thinks he is purposely calling her out to fight, while Ron recalls being bullied by his older cousin as children..She is a weapons' master of many sorts of tools. Of javelin, spears, arrows, staves, and her ability is not yet revealed to be so overwhelming, it will be though! Ron had an incident where he lost control of his lightening powers during a live performance in the past. He swore to never again attempt to become what Aggie G is now (a sassy diva?). Ron was a rock artist , but his failure had the lightening mutt quit while he was ahead. That is why when he enters the grounds of San Remo's music festival, the dog freezes up . Vespa is really impatient and knows how to kill to win (while under oath.). Her holding back depends on who her employer is. The Titans have to be careful around this tricky wild- child!

5.) Ann is trapped inside the book of a supposed Manitfesto , even if his spirit is not the thing fueling the tome's power. Ayane is trying to stop Marcus as he attempts to resuurect Roku, to face his old nemesis and win the dragon's crown as a manifestation god. Little does he know, that the trick is not being played by the dragon this time. Aggie is even shown speaking with a separate entity, it calling itself openly, Manifesto.

6.) Amaterasu and Ami are tied by strings of fate in the chapter. Now that our heroes are starting to see the pages of such a story unfold right before their eyes, the rest cannot be set aside any further. As we will find out, Borgges may have a plan or two to see his dream through to the end. Even if he has to suck up every powersource known throughout space time to the present, he will not hesitate. The pages of his tome are his tools for now.

The question; Is Manifesto really calling the shots, or is Marcus still in charge of his dark destiny? Noted that Ayane does not ask Kaede to do anything reckless- she just will anyway! Keep reading to discover the plot unfurling. Stay curious!


	10. Chapter 10

Teen Titans; The Storyteller Arc; (Now) Part Two; The Manifesto Pages - Chapter 9: Dogs, Devils, and Djinn Lords Of the Past. Crash-Landing Cats Sound the Alarm!

/

Was trying to be poetic in the naming of this chapter. Crash landing, we have a clue which hybrid is responsible( or will be.) As well as the first part, Dogs , Devils and Djinn? That will already be included with Marcus's back story and the Heroes' late enemy's fate thus far. Aggie has fallen into a trap where her new monster master is nearly invisible to the masses. She mistakes the book for being someone her old boss knows, yet he tempts her to forget for awhile. She dreams about the biggest performance of the diva's career, even having some fabrication of a green hero as her lap dog in the crowd.

Is it true? No, in fact, the Tome placed a spell on Agatha right as she slept until her big break. She is trapped within an illusion created by the book since its influence may or may not be what is driving Marcus to act accordingly.

He went to a magician's school with Raku (Arc from wattpad can explain everything. Veil of time series of chapters, author is Pageturner09.) Borgges was bested by the kid 'as Raku' was a protege of the earlier Lord Destiny before he had claimed his original post as Aluehainyu's mentor. This goes waay back in this wattpad arc . Do read it if you can!

Marcus then, was tricked by Lilith as she had arrived at the school to turn young Raku from his destiny. Instead, she used the boy's classmates and did some very 'succubi things' to them in the process...do read the arc if you don't mind dark arcs.

As it came to reason, Marcus was returned home ' as he was pegged the outcast, failed son to an official of the Spirit World's Fae Division.' After that, Marcus's life basically fell apart as he swore to get even with Lil or Raku until he had the power of the djinn dragon for himself. Young Borgges was a bully at the academy, though he actually envied Raku's abilities of manifestation while the boy was still on the side of good. (Raku was Roku before he turned and changed every aspect of his origins to confuse and baffle his later enemies, was as young and innocent as they came. Story tells the rest!)

Marcus Philanius(did I spell that right again?) Borgges is now trying to swipe the dragon's abilities from what remains of him, (he was erased by fate..and by the aspect of Time itself, numerous times.)

He found previously, that by using a piece of Manifesto's Tome container, Borgges has the ability to amplify its magic to grant him his one wish. If this goes on, Marcus might even be tainted by the dragon's influence and do as the influenced of Roku's team had. Well, it could be or he could actually absorb the dragon's magic and face Manifesto to absorb his powers as a specter of a late sorcerer. That is why Lori is fighting honorably to stop her foe from using Takahara's machines to destroy the world or conquor (typo dang it I know!) it.

Who or what is the legend that is, Manifesto? What threat does he raise over our heroes' heads? Is Kaede finally coming back to her senses? And lastly, what are our hopelessly, unlucky guardians going to do about their newest mission to save the Pope in Rome?

Find out and don't look away! Chapter 9 is right on time!

/

Ami was worried about where her poor big sister had run off to. She had Piper to keep the team in line, but it wasn't the same.

"Yes, yes I see...Well where are they now?" Miss Piper Pippette sounded angry..or frightened as the call she had taken was from Aria- a setting that would continue to contain misfortune on their quest...and so, thus far, the heroes were about to awaken much more madness from below the quieted, earthen plates...

"Mistress, you must at least contact Bao Shi- But the ...I cannot talk here. " Ami's eyes of cerulean and fearfulness peered around the corner. There, she helplessly hoped to hear more of her team's ally's, conversation.

"Yes, I think we can arrange that. I will be there soon. " Piper bit her lip as if to hold back a groan. With a sound resembling a sharp click* , the call had abruptly ended. Ami was ready to bolt off as long as-

"Miss, Amelia?.." Piper turned her head just as the girl was about to jet off. "Uhh...Did I do something wrong?" Ami innocently asked as she turned to her caretaker in that moment.

Busted, but she could speed through this quickly!

"What was that call ? Is everyone ok?" The girl's question had the team's aide frowning down to her young charge.

Piper lookedown onto the child with crossed arms and a serious glance. She had wanted to keep this between she and her superiors. It was not enough to decieve the Grayson's youngest, no matter where she fled to talk..as she had hoped to do so in private.

"It was not as you call it ...good news." She almost bit her lip to pause, stopping herself, then replied. "We can talk later." She ended the questioning then and there as Piper's body swerved towards the apartment hall's exit. "Where are you going? We can't just stay and do nothing!" Ami called back, finding that Piper was walking at a steady pace towards the revolving doors of her complex's first floor. Ami was only a child, she could never intimidate a record keep such as the famous sorceress under Lord Dreamwake.

The revolving vestbule's doors swung to and fro, as the two came to meet by the first floor's only open exit.

Visitors would have considered this place as ritzy as a pent house suite. Yet Ami did not care to become distracted easily, as Pippette never strayed from her view long enough tolose sight of her objective.

"What happened to my sister!?" Ami cried out with her throat raw from holding back such useless tears. "I know you are going out to find her! Let the Titans come too! We aren't just kids!-

"This matter does _not_ concern your sister!" Piper shot back as her eyes turned a full green. "Your sibling is still conscious. You should come up with a proper plan upon my return. I _won't_ sacrifice anymore lives! " She huffed this as Ami stood , in shock and left gaping in the center of the room. She felt her lip start to tremble...the reprimand had been too cruel a suggestion..

"You...But..Then what about my family? Why won't you at least tell us _something!?_ Anything! **_Piiiper!"_** Piper just slipped away as Ami ran after the official figure through those swirling, exit doors. As if this had been a trick played by cunning foxes, the girl was left outside- Piper had vanished elsewhere, never to be seen by Ami's human gaze until later that night..no..no!..

"No...come back.." Amelia whimpered and walked with her head hung, back inside of the large building.

"She...won't tell me where my family is... _Argh!"_ The ebony child ran back towards the elevator . She punched the button to go back up, then realized that this wasn't just her chance...Piper had let them run amuck! She expected the teens to be good little kids... **_Well!_**

"We are **_so_** gonna start a riot and leave this place- Sis is counting on us to help out, whether that snooty spirit cares or _not!"_

The desk reception clerk could have sworn a child was mimicking some 'evil laughter' from a cartoon show, though ignored it and continued to read the noon day paper he had saved for such an occasion. No one ever bothered a soul here. Why, this place to the desk watchman was a fortress of solitude!.. But for Ami herself, she had other plans in mind to turn the tables in the New- gen Titans' favor.

/

Zan and Dami were bushed..They had gotten a 'swell' tour of Tokyo without stopping to take a rest. As it stood, their little princess Ami was out of luck. She had to stay put but...where was the kid anyway?

"Hath thou located Miss Amelia?" Henry Vanderbilt asked his comrades in his strongest ' middle- ages ' accent. Zan shook her head while Damian Wayne rolled his eyes by the unecessary (typo?) drama.

"Why is she amiss in the first place, my friends?" Glen Meyers asked as he tried to retrace their steps from earlier..His pacing was too loud though, and Damian had finally heard enough!

"You are going to put a hole through the floor!" He pointed to the half frost giant, grunted, then turned and exhaled quickly to speak anxiously to his team.

"Look, Ami is just running around like she always does! We still have no clue what happened to Anna..um...it's important, so..Why not go on a search? -

"We are supposed to have Piper as our guide, that's why." Zan corrected as Dami looked rather annoyed by his teammates' answer.

"But she's been awol for days! Four full days to be exact!" Henry piped in as the rest of those eyes of his team fell onto the sorcerer 'not yet full fledged's' awkward figure.

"Henry, you did count that ! Now, but.. this has gone on far too-

"Konbanwa!" The voice of the girl, whom loudly entered the suite, was a bumbling Ami - right on schedule to be scolded without mercy.

"Where _did_ you go ?" Zatanna lifted herself up from the official's living room sofa. "We were worried sick! Even Dami was ready to start a search party! Wh-

"No! No time! We can go now- Ah...I _mean..Piper_ wants us to meet her somewhere! " She blurted this out, hoping these clueless 'kids' would take the bait.

"But..you went with her and didn't tell us?" Dami crossed his arms and asked impatiently.

"Why only you? Are you hiding something, kid?" He was really testing her this moment. Ami wanted to barrel him over like she did normally to make her foes into friends...

Ah...sheesh...he was going to be a tough one to conquor.

"Reeally! It is urgent! I had been minding my own business, when Piper was on the phone, and I was right there and she saw-

"So, you were eavesdropping again? That is a bad habit you'll never drop if-

"It's not! Listen! She told me that she was going out so I said I want in. But she just...left! Poof! Right through the door like it was a portal. But I think that Aria was talking about my family! The Titans are in trouble but Ann and ...Ah! I know I Know!" She jumped up and down and had ..had a plan..she guessed?

"I can call the foxes! Telepathically! They can tell us what's going on!"

"Magic is a serious , two- sided-

"Ah! Hey! That's not ok! Glen! Stop her quickly!" The abused, unamused wizard was swiped clean of his wand by the naughty princess as she doused herself with some of its energy in a rushed way.

"Sorry Henry!" Ami smiled as she had the plan set, her palms started glowing orange just as Amaterasu had taught her foreigner pupil that one spell. The wand was tossed back to the doubtful magician as he had been then, at a loss for words.

"No magic!" Theycried out loud. "Amii!" A portal was opening just as Amelia gasped and brought her hands to cover her mouth. She had..that voice in the group ..it was!

Out stepped a more powerful, fully clothed version of Ava, along with her two knights Christopher and Aiden. The three had gotten their best dressed garb out by the Phoenix and Barren's princess's call to war. However, this was not a zombified music festival- nor the city of Rome!

"Glad we actually landed beside some familiar faces! Did we miss anything, guys?" Aiden asked, hoping that his team still..Wait!

Ava turned instead to her youngest sibling. "Where is Anna? Wasn't she here as well, Ami?"

Amelia was still in brief shock, though knew to undo her zippered lips in front of the nefarious snow queen.

"Ah...Piper went to find out..but we..." She sighed and frowned down at the ground. "We have to stay **heeere!"** She bawled as the kids' team groaned or looked on sympathetically.

"It's ok, sis." Aiden knelt to see the girl he'd known to have been through so much in the boy's absense. "Heck, I'm proud of you for holding down the fort. You should be alright. We'll find her..she can't work with her powers - not without her 'chosen an' all." He tried to cheer his sister up, but Ami must have felt guilty for disobeying Annie and causing tons of trouble for the red-head.

"She was only looking out for me, and everyone here! So why...why did she not tell us where she went off to?"

"Anna..is strong but stubborn like dad was, e-hem..is.." Ava cleared her throat and shrugged . She let the portal close behind the three with one arm's magic still powered up to do so.

"She has a lot of status with her squad, fighting is her strength and we all understand that she won't give that up so easily. Hannah is...sigh..!* I respect her enough to break a few of the rules, and when we just arrived to help out! She's terribly impatient..!" Ava Marie suprised everyone, including Christopher - who was unsure of how to dissuade the princess from doing something, not necessarily illegal..but she sounded upset. At least her powers were under control this time.

"We are to remain here, just as Piper ordered us. But until your guardian for now returns, then that I guess is why you say we should object to her rules...but I don't think that would work at all!" Chris exclaimed as the rest sat, he stood puzzled over who's will was stronger.

"Anna's in danger! But **_you_** dummies stopped me from contacting the foxes! I _have_ to try!" Ami bolted from the room to rush out the door in a hurry. Aiden had let go of her hand..what was she planning to accomplish all alone?!

"I think she went for the roof- does this place have one of those?" Zan blinked as her magic was blocked by Ami's stuuborn craft. She was there, but Zan's directions were going to vanish into thin air if Ami did the impossible too soon.

"She'll take off and be hurt! We cannot look away now!" Henry and the group agreed as Chris decided to tag along for now. Ava's life was far more important. Aneiu was counting on him to return with the Barren's sole protector.

"Ami..don't disappear like Anna just did to us!" Aiden cried out as the teens and heroes dashed up the stairs to catch up- then leaving Zan to open a portal that would lead to the roof. Their success was close , Ami was there as her spell was chanted in sutras where only the holy ones could understand such a craft.

"That spell...it is not the right one!" Zan gasped and rushed in to grab Ami's arm, with her team only a few feet behind her.

"You are not chanting the correct spell! Stop immediately!" She was relieved once Dami had gotten a -

 _"Agh!"_ He was thrown back as Ami's eyes grew more to resemble an angry...or possibly, mistified goddess. Her hair was released from the child's pony tail holder prison, as the chanting only echoed louder across the heart of Tokyo.

"She's getting too much energy! We have to break her concentration! " Ava noticed this and explained as winds started to raise her sibling up into mid- air. If she fell...no! Not the time. They _WOULD_ save her!

~Haru! _Kaeade!_ I call upon thee, thy familiar spirit guardians!~ Her formal tongue sounded more mature than Ami's usual, high -squeak pipping. * Dami tried again, though found a newly erected barrier had the Titans now, out of luck- again!

"She's gonna mess up _everything!"_ He shouted, then growled at Aiden to start what he was supposedly going to have to finish.

"On it!" Aiden tagged himself in and lifted off of floating sun rays to make it to the top of the barrier wall that kept Ami's magic protected, an powerful enough to start curses. **_"AMELIA GRAYSON!"_** He shouted, so that she would turn her head towards him. **_"DROP_** THIS ACT AND _DON'T_ FINISH THE SPELL!"

She seemed to be listening.

" I **REPEAT!"** The winds only became small whirl- winds as Aiden used his sword to deflect the deafening blows one by one.

"I'm serious! Is this what's really going to save Anna!? Mom is counting on us and everyone to work as a team...I know it's hard for you! Just look at us! Ava and I are best friends now! Don't do this! We can work t-

~I'M **_GOING_** TO SAVE HER! YOU ALL TOOK TO LONG TO DECIDE _ON...ON..ANYTHING!~_ Ami said this loudly through the speak as her spells grew to become even more violent.

"I _know!"_ Aiden called back with regret deep in his eyes. _"That's_ why we need to do this right!" He gasped softly, hearing then Ava's voice chiming in her deepest order to help out where the princess of snow could.

"Ami! We won't lose Anna! You _have_ to trust your bro...Aiden **AND** your friends!" She had re-worded her sentence without adding in her formal dialect, not too much.

~YOU...YOU ARE EVEN _WORSE_ THAN HE IS! I **WON'T** ! ~ Ami's angry eyes turned white now as 'contact' had been made with unknown forces. The voice of Kaede shouted back in protest ;

~STAY BACK! AMELIA? YOU SHOULD NOT BE INSIDE MY MIND!? YOUR ALLY IS IN DANGER!- **_MANIFESTOOO!~_**

The contact was thought to have been lost. Ami's eyes returned to those of a child with palor skin by how much magic she had wasted. The teen and his comrade, waited. Ava held her breath, until another voice darkened the air surrounding the team, with quite a sinister aura about it...

/

 _~Quite_ a formidable opponent...is she what my master hopes to collect?~

Ami stood dumb, staring back into the air as only a voice spoke to her. Aiden and the crew watched on helplessly as Ava turned up the volume with her ice attacks. "No! _Ami!"_

~You...don't have a body...but I can hear _you..Where_ is my sister!?~

"Amelia! **Stop!** Don't make any sudden moves-

 _ **"Argh!"**_ Glen was left to defend himself against the force that was Manifesto's invisible binds.

 _"Glen!"_ Henry turned back around, only to be tricked by more vining things that bound the wizard and his magical relics to the rooftop.

"It's a trick!" Aiden did not listen to Chris, he already had gotten that idea. His friends were being hog- tied down on the spot! He ran at full speed to save his sister, to talk some sense into her to- be captor...not again..this was not supposed to happen! She was going to be taken over by another crazy monster, not on her big brother's watch, nu- uh!

~Your sibling is red as a solar flare..?Ah, _yesss...she_ fell within my _pages-_ I have tried to contact her...but _alas-_

~Anna...You let her go or..Or, or I'll destroy you _myself!-_

~Little kit! You _have_ no such magic...unless...~

Ami gasped and was tugged in by the demon's pause. ~Don't hold out on me, Manifesto, whoever you are! I _**WILL**_ find my sister!-

~That is why we can settle with how amusing I've found our time...For you see, for a price such as you have given...I would be honored to grant your one wish...~

Ami stood once again, thinking back to when Roku had tempted the twin with a 'way out.' (these new years, part two.)

~If I go inside the book, you _have_ to let my friends go.~ She was going to make the biggest mistake ever...And yet this time she was not being kidnapped, or kicking and screaming for dear life. It was to save her family. Nothing more.

~Oh..But in your _place.~_ Manifesto had not even spoken the words of story book Djinn, was this a demon's code or was he improvising?...

~You'll need to be present...So now, I have just thee aspect once forgotten, one left to keep your team standing..~ Ami floated in mid air as the tome revealed its massive form , he had gotten even larger now than ever before!

~The queen so wretched, Lady Amelia shall take your place whilst you search for that child inside my walls...The spell now cast, the contract thus made, for your proper service, ye hath been quite brave...Story to tell , story to write...-

 _ **"AMMIII!"**_ Her team cried out together as the magic had them clambering towards her, it was too late as Ami was swept up- just as Anna to be locked within those pages. Yet, she was still there...something was different...did it only steal souls-

~Turn this child's world by its plight. Replace her face with a mask secured tightly, drive away these heroes , oh so unsightly!~ Its ryhming(typo!) was weak, yet the book just did this for fun, not ...

 _ **"Aagh!**_ Look _out!"_

Glen shouted in warning as the very, very edge of the roof was about to crumble, right where Ami was again standing -

"Ami! Take my hand! Hurry!" Zan and Aiden grabbed both of the child's wrists as she looked ready to fly. Her back was to them, her eyes were half lidded and staring towards the ground.

 _"Ugh..that..was close..."_

They pulled her up as the twelve year old fell back against her friends with a useless flop.* "Is she still ok?" Zan tapped the child's pale cheek as Dami came to check the kid's pulse. "She's in shock..I think.." Chris saw something in the girl's eyes, however, that unnerved him terribly. "Maybe we should return inside. " He suggested, while looked to Ava for approval.

Manifesto had taken something...but the team didn't catch him upon his leave..they would have to recover first..contact Piper right away..

"Not yet.." Ava waited for Ami's eyes to finally open, as they did so with a quiet flutter. "She's not the same...Everyone?"

 _"Ahh,_ I had not missed this plane..." The ebony haired girl batted her team's arms away swiftly.

Henry hissed as he'd been clumsy in being a dull blade instead of sharl as a tack. **"Owch!** Why _so...so...uung..."_

 _"Henry!"_ Glen noticed the child's nails were ripe with a strong venom. His friend lay on the ground as the frost giant male felt a pang of guilt grow by how they had not trusted poor Ami's judgement. "In his kit!" He then gasped. "My pal might have the anitdote!" Chris nodded as Zan backed him, while the silver haired knight ran off to find the anti venom , and quickly!

"He said...Lady Amelia...?" Aiden gulped. "Just like the last time..." A flashback of her late affliction crept across his mind, spresding its tendrils of fear wherever that memory still took hold of the blonde's innermost, thoughts. His hands were shaking...As badly as before..

"We..can't let her out of -

"I request that you leave me to myself, sister?" Amelia's dress was the same, yet it had somehow been painted black as her hair reformed back into a perfect bun. Aiden's head lowered. They were too late. "This universe is holding my counterpart back." She sniffed, looking about as if bored; an Ami trait that ripped her siblings up just watching, knowing they had led her right into its waiting jaws...

The darkly clad girl dusted herself off as she rose to speak again. "My party is not with you. You did not listen, thus, you are unworthy of my thanks-

 **"Kid!** _Stop_ playing body snatcher and **tell** us where that book took our teammate!" Dami raised his sword and demanded answers. The meddler was still annoyed by her fate, though could only bear the mark as Manifesto's toy for now.

She evill(typo? Been a while since I've used this word..oh well) y licked her lips as her fingers were now covered by two, dainty, black gloves. "My master is beconing me to join him on Italian soil." She said this as her body moved back a slight on gothic, kitten heels of this counterpart's garb.. Dami caught on enough to not let her words irk him. His team's captain was still in shock. This was not going to be quick enough, they had to knock her out again.

"She's got a home, a family...so beat it, ghost!" The teen hero swung out one of his blades as the girl looked quite miffed by the reaction upon her awakening.

 _"Rude_ boy." She sneered back. Sorry, but you will be no match...Never _mind_ it then!" Her eyes widened and held that slight red as she swung out to attack the dumbfounded team.

 _ **"Yaah!"**_ Lady Amelia's body moved gracefully as a cat's as the new Robin avoided her claws, for fear of becoming like Henry had, poisoned. "I **_won't_** let you win her over!" He shot back with his twin swords now, his eyes narrowed as the fight had begun!

/

The Vatican was all abuzz from above. Yet below it, the under - realm was deathly still.

Cici stood to face the doorway of her superiors. Angus O'Brian was there as well to send his word and aide to the council's deaf ears.

His scared, youthful face looked about, as the fae citizen gulped back to collect what was still to remain of his dashed pride.

As the doors did open, Cici looked on in disgust up to the one she had never hoped to be without hating. ~Lady, Hecate..~ She snorted up to the ugly queen of the under world.

 _~Mistress_ Crescendo, and _what_ brings you to my domain, child?" She looked, different...As if the one deity had no longer a thirst for vengence...

 _~Why_ are you trying , what are your plans against the chosen? I have heard of an atack against this sacred dwelling from the name born as ; Manifesto.~ She said while the queen listened long enough to answer.

 _~Yes.~_ Hecate looked worn, ah! She was no longer strong as before..not since her trip to many lands had wiped out a portion of her powers. She had lost her will..Or only just until she recovered, would she reclaim that fire in her eyes.

~The tome of Manifestation and of Delusion, I tried to warn your charges of the dangers that would befall them. Now, I fear he has taken important victims by a one, single glance at those forbidden pages.~ She seemed quite relaxed, even while otheres had suffered, while attempting to stop the mad pell book character with their lives!

~Lady Lorelai is standing 'mano e mano' with the book's late holder. A _sir_ "Marcus Philanius Borgges" from the spirit realm of fae. His kin were gifted with the Borgges' family's magic. His tale is too tragic to tell...Yet his desires are rather impure as he intends to ressurect the energy of the red one -

~He is _not_ going to go that far to do so!~ Angus added in as he recalled Mistress Dearheart from long ago. ~Our kind were lost in number to the dragon's evil influence...His son was a mighty tool that had us vanishing by the dozen - Dearheart left this world without knowin' of his destruction from the reign of Time's law!~

~He will **not** be returned.~ Hecate interrupted with a stare in the boy's direction. ~His energy is tainted- thus, if it should be absorbed too quickly by our clueless mastermind, that villain too shall lose ever last drop of his sanity. ~

~Then send me to where he is.~ Cici demanded, yet Hecate found this plan to not suite her tastes. ~The last drop of sheer misfortune on your kin would mean the loss of our Lunar relic, forever. Nay.~ She responded. ~Ye shan't lose what I have already taken towards finishing to create in your mother's place. ~

~My mother, is in danger! ~ Cecilia tried to reason with the goddess. ~She is facing the daemon followers of this Borgges boy as we debate the inevitable!~

~They will not enter the Vatican by their desires alone.~ Hecate shook her head . ~For the one that changes his form cannot hope to enter. The Eternal world was where his power was contained. Only as souls 'it' could trap in mere moments, were they in fact full- able to regain consciousness. The human officials however, the shifting boy has no such way of entering their hearts. Nay, not when humans are too impure for a former 'knight' such as he to be dealt. ~

~They..can taint him?~ Cici was interrupted by Angus's disbelief. ~Then he is not truly a monster! Why is a shifter imp so much like we spirit?~

~ The shifter imps are of fae origin.~ The queen of darkness replied. ~For darkness is not so sinister as you recall it to have been. ~ The crone answered the boy honestly enough, while Cici then came up with a crackerjack plan of her own as the two talked a moment longer.

~Lady _Crone?~_ She finally chimed in. ~Why not allow your fellow priestess the honor of banishing those ruffians , however you prefer?~

Hecate raised a brow and looked from her seat, down towards the child she had known for far too long to have been a liar by rite.

~I am _curious,_ Cecilia.~ The blonde only nodded back, as the crone continued. Cici bowed and had Angus to do the same. ~ I am your faithful follower, if you'll just trust me this once...We can have our _silence_ returned to this world...~

~Pray tell, child...What _is_ your ingenious plan going to prove?~ Hecate asked with a puzzled gaze.

Cici smiled back as her face held no such secrets of tyrranical undoings , never to go against this goddess's will. She meant to grab the deity's attention anyhow.

~You will just have to play along for now to find out.~ Was all she said in reply. To be expected as the former black widow mistress. No longer hiding in shame as she had for so long, all for too long it seemed, she was again bound to play the hero, once again in her long life left unlived.

/

The race had been nearing its finish for some time. Shoji drove with blisters against his sweating palms. Right after a single turn, the Vatican would appear. The finish line was in his sights!

Kayu swooped down from above as Kaien dragged the swarming cluster of demon insects to lose the chase. "Yer cuz is in the lead! But where be his -

 _~Nyahahaaa!"_ The rev of a motor crashed past street signs as the tenkit woman had the stealth of a shinobi master!

"Damned be she fer leading us off! Kay! Show em yer rain! Give a push, heh!"

He dropped the dazed fox from leaning on his arm for support, as Kayu knew what that meant- though did not like to be teased by that old goat!

 ** _~Aaagh!_** Rain of the heavens! Drench the streets where the demons dwell!~ His cloud bed weapon appeared and formed below the dog's feet. The staff of the official's son pounded the cloud to have it rain in buckets over the streets of Rome.

"Yes! You can stop soon, k?" Shoji saw then as Catalina's car appeared, she left it by the doors to the church catherdral. Shoji knew what to do as he stopped, getting out on foot to avoid the typhoon coming down upon the racers.

 _ **"Raaaw!**_ I _hate_ dogs! Now I have to ruin my new outfits! _Grrraaa!"_ Lady Lao Ming came out of her vehicle and shivered as a wet kitten on the streets. She was no panther, the water was a threat to he survival- as well as killed her chances of winning the race.

"How ugly!" The two foxes gasped, turning to face insulted glare of Charl in the flesh in mid- air, as they hopelessly were.

"Ya lost the bet!" Kaien sneered to the knight no more of Paris's past. Charl scoffed, looking to see what he could accomplish now from the sidelines. "I'll just take her place...no rules against that? Ta ta!" The lying psycho dropped below to speed up as a large beast in the rain. His form a centaur as it turned to minotaur - right for Shoji!

 _"Look out!"_ Kay kept the storm up to only involve the streets surrounding the vatican. The people had gone inside where they were saved from the illusion.

 _ **"Hyaa!"**_ Verra emerged and decided to hold off the bull- man for his compadre. **"Go!"** Kaien rushed to aid the hybrid cat as the three, Catalina was ahead already, Ming was freezing to death, and Shoji had to wade as best he could...They could win..They had to!

"The doors...! _Pant!*"_ The con- corporate head met with his palm to the door of the great structure. Catalina turned to Kayvas he nodded back to her. "Rain, seize!" The sun returned as the day turned to later in the evening. The cat and former queen went inside the Vatican. They had broken off from Charl's bull dozing attitude. He riled up with his fists to the stone, pounding it in a fated tantrum.

"No! No! **_Noooooo!"_**

Vee chuckled, yet the bull's eyes turned demon's red, blood red and full of anger. Kaien lifted up the mini dog as they fled. "The minotaur's gonna go a-huntin! Don't get in its way!" He warned the cat aspect as Verra had his energy drained by the fight. "Inside! He can't breach her walls!-

 **"Wrong** _again!"_ Charl revert to the face they had hoped he could never. "I am a guest in his house!" The servant of the church could not be attacked, he looked as one of them. One of the brothers weakly opened the doors from the inside, Charl was allowed as much as Catalina's allies. He had them beaten after all!

"Brother Farrel...Why such a time today? You were not expected until tomorrow's flight from elsewhere?"

"Forgive my excuses. " Charl as this 'Farrel character was too close, he had already mde his way inside more tan once!

"The flight was not as long as i'd have believed. These guests of course are for Mistress Catherine." He ushered the two , well..one, to step forth. Verra was invisible to those whom wished to never speak of daemons.

 _"Solario?_ Has been not too long since you last visited. Why the long face? Lose a bet , _perhaps?"_ The human male laughed softly with twinkling , elderly eyes. Ah, he had no idea that his joke was one that had spoken all too truthfully.

"Catherine must be lonesome with her paper work as her only , ehem...companion. I worry for my family is all. "

"Hmm, don't think indecent thoughts, we know your back story after all.." Yes, the did. Kaien was a monitored celebrity in Italy, it was his home , as was Greece...once upon a time.

"She'll see you in a bit, though don't catch a chill out on the streets, tonight the winds no no end. " The white robed brother shivered as he then, to their dismay, shut the door behind a baffled Kaien.

/

The guest rooms were still available. Yet Kaien had only to allow Verra and Shoji a glance before heading after Charl. He was a holy brother? Or posing as one? What was happening here?

"Kaien!" Catalina and Shoji did just as the old dog expected. He was in her office after all, waiting to reunite with his old friend and student. Cici however, was supposed to be at the lady's desk for now,she was mysteriously absent. Such was the life of a Crescendo child..

"Where is Kayu?" Shoji asked as he returned Verra into his body. The poor kitty was wiped out for once, no chatter to be had on Takahara's watch.

"Still out there. " Kaien groaned as the face of 'Phillipe Enrico Solario.' His name was as an industry's king . As with Aria, his design in this ploy the gods had woven , was as a super model or two's main director and agent. The big banana- thee , head honcho that served the fat cats their 'creme de la creme. ' (Yuck.)

He'd brought the word womanizer to new heights, which honestly, had Aria as far from her family member as possible.. He also dabbled in fashion but...that was also an ugly business.

"I'd hoped you to have kept an eye on the goddess Amaterasu and Miss Isa.." Catherine looked her ally in the eye rather coldly. "Don' have us at that! " The fox whined, hoping now that Cathy didn't hate him for leaving as well. He looked as if he were pleading, dumbluck for the sad pup in Solario's case..He had been a chaser of beauty, but now...His trust in Catherine was thinning - nothing could glue the pieces back in place as in his strikin youth as Apollon.

"I did what Hecate an' the council were after finishin' ! Aria was the one who kept us in line besides Sayu, I was just a tool t-

"Aria is powerful, yet she did not drive your decisions alone." Catalina snipped as if her tongue were forked like a serpent's.

"For the _love_ of all things _honest!_ You two are _worse_ than Ron is with his mother's favorite son!-

~I heard that, _fox.~_ Kayu made a rather nervous Shoji even more so by the speak going on in the con-cat's head. ~I didn't come inside, in case I could spot Lao Ming..she's not on her A - game tonight. That could have her fleeing to search for Manifesto!~

 _~Right.~_ Shoji nodded , then turned to Solario and Lady Daia.

"We have a way to win, even if the fight's been cancelled."

"Says you? We _won!_ This was just a trick ta' let our guard down." The fire foxgrunt before shaking a finger at his nephew. "Know your strategies, young 'dog'!"

 _"Kaien!"_ Catalina smoothed back her hair from covering her ridged, wrinkling temples - from causing an atomic collapse someplace in time and space. She knew better than to lose control in her current body. Just as Kaien should have contacted her **BEFORE** siding with the trickster crone!

"What happened to Isa and the others?" Shoji jumped in while an attendant had left a pot of tea for the fatigued mother priestess. This was not as anyone had guessed. Cathetine was still of dark andlight magics. As Raven, her head was spinning from the chaos surrounding her second home.

"They flapped off an' left me ta see about you - when we discovered where the cat had run off ta, Amaterasu decided to send herself spirallin' after Kaede in Japan ." Kaien had exp,ained that part...but why was he rushing back as if aware of far more?..

"But..the _kids_ are there! " Shoji exclaimed in a hoase voice, panicking at this point. "She loves her kin so much, that poor lil' Ami is going to become our enemy's next target! Shit!" Shoji growled this as the wolf in his 'Verra' had not yet the gall to come back out. "I should have stayed behind ...I should have left my aspect of Vee with them longer!-

"Yeah, but cha don' recall the Titans in Italy at the moment?" Kaien reminded the forelorn pup.

"They have the trail' a Aggie - as WE still are guessin' what to do about that shiftin' brat!"

"You both should return to your rooms for tonight. " Catherine took a sip of tea, sparking barks of impatience from her two guests.

"What be all this, Malady!?" Kaien started first. "I came because the heroes needed a break! Why are you kickin' ME out?"

"You are disrupting my _'thinking space.'_ " Was all she said with a hand right back to her pounding temples.

"I must see what Cecilia has found, while you two have done nothing to aid in searching for our current enemy as of this moment!" For a moment the dogshad to seize their fighting. Catherine awaitedtheir replies as Shoji, felt his brain power surge to form an idea or two.

The ebony haired pooch loosened his collar and brought an arm to his uncle's shoulder. Kaien flinched as he looked back towards his nosy family, his sister would have turned in her grave by that smirk...

"Eh...Then , Kaien ? Wanna talk in the hall and git' while our Lady takes to her own time? Might we-

"Do." Catherine nod and sipped another spot from her fine china. "I would like for nothing better than my _'friends'_ to 'get _along.'_ "

"Are you outta yer!-

"Shut **up,** and **pay** attention." Shoji sternly said in an almost, emotionless tone of voice. "If Catherine isinvolved,the pope is easy pickings well before we a keep her safe. "I say, one of us stays and gets Catherine out of here. I can run and walk through the shadows like my mentor couldn't. " Herds was behind those eyes..Kaien shook his head angrily.

"No! You'll just rip at the facade you've created to keep the wolf inside ya' in! I refuse!"

"Then Charl will end up tempting this church to turn it into a house only demons - demons that were once human.." Kaien was unable to show the concern on his face..He was an elemental, not a mortal.

" So, do you think I shouldn't sacrifice my power to help the opposite side? Cause' Catalina can't face those guys on her own- she's practically a prisoner to the order! You knew enough to come here.."

"You wanna die before we have a plan, boy?" Kaien hissed back. "She's a pillar to this world! You an' your family? We are all just being used ta keep the peace. I thought you could sacrifice enough, but.." Kaien turned to leave, just as that hand had returned to have his feet halt, while he'd still been walking in the opposite direction.

"We need to break the rules, bend them and save the Vatican from destruction. "

"Heh...much to your promises, I never _left."_ Kaien replied with a chuckle . He knew that of all his family members, Shoji was the most determined. He had seen to Lori the longest, kept an eye on the chosen for far more than his allies..He was naturally blamed for disaster after disaster, in the end..he came out an anti-hero, no matter who had to fall. Or had fallen by his guidance.

"Then what about Aiden and the others." Takahara asked once more. "They need **US."** He pressed his fingers into his uncle's coat shoulder. " We are here to face against what is disrupting the balance. "

"The kiddos then be in the council's way."

Shoji let go as Kaien turned to him. His eyes red as amber and lit by the memories of his time on Earth thus far.

"Hecate...what does she know?"

"She claimed ta' have been preventin' something..A disturbance by the children of the golden dawn..but no..."

"Hey, _hey!_ If I have to know this then why are you running away!-

"It's late." Kaien revert to the lazy scoudrel known as Solario. "You and I aren't finished with our talk" Shoji snort as Kaien tried to leave again. "We aren't done yet."

"Ah, but I'm bushed . You should save your strength, fer tonight...I'll send my thoughts n' tu you ." Kaien yawned again as if his words could have been untrustworthy, if not from the start of their journey..

"You had better send a visual map or layout of the Vatican while you're at it!" Shoji sniffed with his nose away from his uncle's guilty sneering. "I'll be lost and will have to hunt that ratty kid down by myself."

"And I have every confidence that you won't." Slipping behind the corridor's slim corner, the fire fox was nothing but a shadow, drifting into the night.

Those last words left Shoji off guard. Kaien..was being serious for once? "He's one big box of secrets...I thought I took the gold with that title..." Takahara shook his head by this all being nothing but a trick by the old dog.

Softly, he knocked on the door to Catherine's room. This world's Takahara Shoji at least had to say good night properly to the once- queen of another world in another time.

"Buone Notte, Signora Dai-

"Sleep well, _cat."_ He blinked by her responsive efforts, how off putting though!..

"Wow, that takes a speacial dose of ' super hearing '...darn it Cath.."

And by how low his voice had been through oaken wood, never! Not even the tall-eared pup could seek out that pitch in the darkness..

She must have just been as her daughter. Very much awake, and alert as a great horned owl.

"Night owls.." Shoji sighed and pushed his weight off of the door frame with a brief shove.

It was time to he too went on his merry way down the hall. Takahara smirked under his collar and picked up the pace of his walk, briskly stepping hard down onto the floor. To heck with being a team player, he stomped! He started to walk in a huff, then he ran, then suddenly, he felt the wind through that mane that was Veravakumu's of the Four Passages.

His powers were again at full strength- His uncle could be proven wrong !

"Oh, I'll be doing that snooping like you wanted, just you wait...Uncle Kai-en.." The war was on, he grinned. And between a demon, a book-bearer, and an un-saintly god of the next kingdom come, one soul- lost pup was about to set the record straight.

/

Shoji's blowing smoke but Kaien has him beat. He was always closer to Catalina Daia by their origin stories. So, fightimg over the pillar, is just a boast to win over the cool and confident Catherine's vote. However, what ever became of Charl or Lao Ming? What other enemies are hiding within the church that the two mutts have no chance to face alone? Why is Kayu unable to step foot inside?

As far as Amelia, in Part two of these new years; she was a darker aspect of age fourteen - but one could say a more gothic variation of a princess. Her poisonous nails hurt Aiden in this previous arc, leaving him to work out the taint by the solar magic of the 'current' chosen's rites. Ami even then, still beat herself up so much for the incident, that our mini- miko in training secretly snuck off to train with Amaterasu in Japan - at her school for 'magical arts .' Don' ask, it'll be added when she is in high school later. I intend to place this together with a final showdown, so look forward to it!


	11. Chapter 11

Teen Titans; New Generations- Manifesto Pages; Storyteller Arc - Part Two; Chapter 10: A-Mazing Grace? Now, Enter..The Widow's Void.

Marcus's Backstory will finally (next chapter!) finally, be explained. Well, and Ami is fighting Dami as Amelia (from these new years , part two.)

Kaien had a puppy crush on his old ally Catherine, while Shoji is trying to piece together how the deity once known as Apollon never let his influence over the country deplete. (He is a god of polytheistic pasts, so you be the judge of that!)

Kay is banned from entering the Pope's home- why? We are about to unmask the reason, just as LaoMing is forcing her will power to push back the competition. Charl is possibly already the worst villain next to Lothos or even Regis by his attitude! When will Aggie's big ensemble happen to go off with a bang?

Also , San Remo (typo?) is an indoor event like the grammy's , even more diverse as it hosts more genres than just pop . I mean that as the average festival must be packed with fans , ones who show their appreciatation without being told to clap for the this year's artists. (Real festival already ended few months ago.)

Aggie's dream was just that, she was being controlled by Manifesto's spirit, mixed with the added influence of some horrible demons we all know and despise.

(The red dragon's face is that 'mound of miasma' and as a red scale in Shoji's underground lab. He must still be as poisonous as the rarest desires ever conceived!) Dramatic much..*

As the winding down tick tock of the astral clock commences, will Aiden and the gang ever reunite in time with their caretakers , in order to stop the Manifestation Djinn of another past?

Is Marcus really or was he, a student in a magical academy with former half- daemon kid, Raku?

Reading the Wattpad story may help, but it's up to the reader to see if this is fiction will tie into our tale. (Dramatic again!)

Lastly, an old enemy will be making a return by the title-so!

So? Ehem, without any further items to add, part two now starts off, red hot!

/

Aggie paced the floor. As she had dreaded, there had been a delay. One extra act was supposed to open for her...But they had caught an 'upset' on their flight over from their extended vacation in Brazil. The food had not been the trouble. Air sickness had instead been the culprit, and weakened, gut flora too.

"We cannot replace 'G-Flo!' " Aggie raised a brow as the MC (the man to open for the line up of six to ten artists, ) was gripping his microphone with such strength, that it would have snapped in two like a twig.

"Si, but what of the others who are still waiting to go on tonight?" The second was a woman with a chart of names and a tablet in her hands. "Are we supposed to fly in another replacement for the opening or just-

"Argh..." The man pushed Mariella away with a splayed palm directed outwards. "Let me think...Aggie! " He turned to see their dazzling teen- sensation in her best outfit.

"What are you doing before the first performance?" Mariella asked.

Their brows were coated in plenty of sweat to ' just add more! '

"Ah...you, may have a problem too." The MC tugged at his expensive shirt collar as if not everything was going as planned. Exactly, it was a flaw in the schedule after all.

"Would you let me fix this?" Aggie had invited herself in to their conversation. Se asked this time with a it more concern in her voice for a role to perform. The studdering secretary protested in a weaker tone. "But, Miss, you...you are just -

"Mariella, let me call in a performer. He was once a punk , but now.." She smiled to the secretary and her partner, knowing they could not refuse her offer on a whim .

"He is listed down into the charts as a sucess from..then..Well! ..Ahah..-

"Oh! He, even on hiatus could blow the roof off of that stage with only a single note. "Her phone was out and searching as millenials has the upper hand in their time.

Aggie pointed to the front as the curtains were left for classical premiers (typo?) and sultry duets by symphonic superstars, maestosi - artisti musicali (eh, could do better next time. )

"Hah! But does that even make sense?" The male executive MC barked back, (as if he could have seen this through without Aggie's help.)

"Perfectly, I am living proof. " She boasted her reasons a bit. "You had forgotten my last visit to Italy two years ago?" Aggie smirked to the two with her head held high. Her arms were crossed behind her back as she waited for either to reply.

"That..was said to have been an error with the sound -

"I do not lie to my company." She added again with a wag of her finger, this time with a more playful tone as the secretary bit her lip to quit interrupting . Mariella cleared her throat, then spoke up as the time they had was vital if was wasted poorly.

"If you have an act, call them here, 'Pronto' and don't come back until they are flying right for Sanremo! " She said this as if her lungs had been tied up, then undid to demand as her own boss might have been so lucky.

"As you wish!" The silvery haired girl smiled before turning her back on the two mortals- she had a line to hack! Perfection at its finest would come, just...While she had a bone to pick with one vocalist from two years ago...

/

Ron sneezed as if he could catch the voices of someone chattering on about him. (Cliche ! I know!)

"Did you need to powder your nose before-

"Vespa..." He growled to his cousin. Her chuckle was unappealing and had devious undertones to it.

"We should be prepared..." He huffed and got ready to head inside the hall. "Sanremo is more modern than I would have-

"You thought it was a festival with balloons and candy...Why did I even bother then?" The dark eyed guardian Vespa put her hands to her hips and frowned.

~Where was Vee when you needed him?.. ~ The lightening dog was about to interject to defend his pride from the harpy, when his phone suddenly rang. Rather, it was a number that looked to be of the same area as Sanremo Italy.

"Should you?" The woman above him teased. The dog male tsked * and picked up the call, just to spite the dark arts daemon with all he had.

"Who is this?"

~An old competitor from back in the finals..Back in Sydney? Remember, Puppy?~

Ron's eyes distanced from the line, to look up at Vespa. She nodded, replying in a harsh whisper. "Go on, find out more.."

He returned to the caller, his lips drier than they had been since his last competition in his home country. With a Sky- borne vixen not hoping to be present.. Ah, yes.. Those, were the days!

"You have me all wrong, Maybe." He could not say 'mate' , not when this person was a total enigma bent on separating the dogs on their mission.

~I now feel very embarressed, but I just..had to ask you..~ She had the voice of a muffled caller with the accent similar to Catalina Daia, maybe a bit stronger than the other country's roots . Something dangerous was about to occur as Ron forgot what to say. He took in a gulp of air.

~Would you perform for Sanremo, tonight as my opening?" The dark eyed guardian Vespa swung her head towards the call, her eyes as viscious as an angry wolf's. She wanted that line decimated with such an expression. It was certain by her rage.

"You know what I am, but what about you?" Ron snipped back to the caller. "How could I remember a random person, when competing was only second nature to us like you'd only forgotten to add? Huh? I will NOT be blackmailed if that is what you are going for..!" He growled into the cell with his grip shaken by rage.

The character giggled as if the joke was on the fox. Ron then decided, he screamed back into the cell's speaker.

"What are you , no..How did you get this number?" His loud voice alerted the crowds that had been entering the music venue. They immediately turned to stare and whisper words like 'this rude foreigner is being unacceptably rowdy while visiting our city?' Vespa knew this was what the voice wanted. Ron knew, but was now causing trouble due to the enigmatic person's talking.

Vespa slapped her hand to her face and groaned before finally ripping the cell phone from her cousin's paws. His power was out of flux! The devil on that line was no mere mortal!

"Why don't you ready your costume staff, and the clowns back stage can pick us up anytime!" Vespa smirked her own grin of deceit , hoping that her aura was read by this odd intruder on her cousin's private line.

" Add me into that duet and we have your number..." As he stood dumbfounded, Ron looked as a drenched puppy. His cousin's intervention was too risky! Why was this happening? The Titans, they were still apart and within the venue's borders!

~You know how to weave your words well, miss...~

"Introductions I will state for we both..That is, once WE meet..." Vespa held back a sigh. Ugh!..Oh, as if this would take all day. "Toodles, and...I have one idea of what YOU are.." The caller almost brought herself to protest ,though was cut off sharply, and right on schedule. With a click, Vespa tossed the cell phone back into her disturbed cousin's palms.

He looked up at her again with eyes searching for unknown answers. Ron then suddenly exclaimed, "Wh...what just happened? Way to spoil our tour with more surprises!"

"Hush, I _got_ us backstage...Idiot. " Vespa ignored him and brushed her hair back, to then transform into what looked a post- hardcore image idol. " The nails weren't exactly talons, but her lashes looked sharp! The style was mid modern at best.. Vespa's long hair was let to flow as the deity hound of underworld investments . She smirked to Ron with her red to violet lipstick just as hard as her usual punishment- games in heck. (Being stuck with her least favorite cousin, he could end up pushing up daisies if he disses her..)

"Enough energy to _gawk?_ Then get to it, pooch!" Vespa snapped her fingers for Ron to do so...But others...She had the ability to mask them! Incredible!

"Are we not going to be in danger of being weened out by Marcus's cronies?" Ron asked cautiously whilst among the crowds. His brow remained furrowed as he kept on his toes for any sign of dangerous faces. None were set for reappearing, so he breathed a sigh and followed Vespa's example.

"We are fine as long as you don't run off ." She teased as they readied to enter the main vestibule (to say the j east of the layout..oy..) "Or is Ronald just a scat- cat?-

 **"What** does that even imply?" The fox snorted as the two completed their transformations. Ron looked... as Aiden from those few years prior. Skater boy or not...

His hair was slightly shorter and in a pony that brushed his shoulder blade uncomfortably...Reminding the dog of his cut career life and gaudy style..

"Where do we meet this , 'deep voice' tonight?" He conveyed his question with Vespa, who had every right to clock her cousin unconscious until they arrived...Bagged and packaged up tight, sounded nice.

"You are thinking of something evil!" He shuddered by her low chuckle. The fox frowned and knew Vespa better than Vee or Kay. She was a crone in the form of a young enchantress. Such a drag that she was his partner...

"We would be best to express our emotions once your 'heroes' save the Earth." She stated calmly. Almost trying to tick off her younger family member. "Won't forget that, you had better be on our side. No takers or losers in your game of life."

"Course, it would be unwise to try and out-wit a fox..." Vespa shrugged before changing her posture a bit to mimic the woman she had dressed as.

Up to the door, and security looked alright...too tight to squeeze by as their fox forms.

 _"Ciao."_ The punk diva through up a normal hand gesture to the staff. Informal as ever, Vespa made that word shine past the door's security ...They were even gaping b-

"My partner's voice is what you all wanted, could let us in? A certain...person of importance is waiting to meet some old friendsof her's."

"S...Sure! You, you can both go inside now." The main security guard opened up the way, as Ron and Vespa took the place of whoever had lost their appetite aboard Air Brazil. They had to have had rocks in their tummy before boarding. This G-Flo so far was going to be in one heck of a pickle. Royalties and all!

Ron looked around to see that the VIP looked over booked.

"Should I wear a mask or..."

"You look _too_ outdated in _my_ opinion. "

The older woman's snarky tone had Ron snort back.

"Says post hardcore- itis, who's standing on my!-

 _"Ahhh!"_ The voice was not from someone stepping on a kitsune son's tail, rather it was a host from one particular session..

She was wraring silver and lots of sequins. It was the year to don the nineties...

Her hair was in straight silvery strands down her back and a matching set of clean-cut bangs to add to her appeal. He star earings dangled with what looked to be a dozen bracelets. She wore a dress that shone like those same stars by her lobes, though looked..petite for the age she actually should have appeared..

"Agatha..." Vespa took a step back as Ronald whispered her name. "You know...?" The dark fox cousin hissed to her relative before all fell silent.

Vespa would not get to finish. Aggie was all over Ron as a child with her favorite play mate.. To her relative, it was as if he taken in for a visit with his cute, little sister... Vespa felt her hybrid self cringe. Any moment now, they would discover the diva's secret...Then, Aggie - G would be Aggie- Done. (Lazy language! My slang is improper!)

As long as Ron stayed conscious throughout supper.

"My my...Is she your _date_ this evening?" The girl had no clue! She looked up grinning to the couple with a fan girl's , half lidded expression in admiration of the love birds (in fantasy!)

Ron slyly smirked. With a chuckle, he brought an arm to drape over Vespa's side-

 **~Touch** me...~ She grit her teeth through the speak to display her angst. ~And **we** will be having delicious **_fox_** for dinner!..~

 **~Just** play along! ~ He stopped her words a minute by continuing the speak under Aggie's watchful gaze. ~I won't do anything evil..this is, just to get her guard down.~ He promised this , yet Vespa was a skeptic, a warrior and a master assassin.. Vespa shifted to allow herself to lean onto her...relative's shoulder. He was going to lose all of his nine lives in another life, and his teeth. She'd have bet her own soul on the fact, womanizing shit! (bit, ughh!)

"He invited me right about a week ago, right baby?" The sweet eyes of the other, younger woman were uneasy as Aggie's arm never let loose of Ron's. Vespa saw this and just let go of her arm, thinking a trick would be better than being tricked. "He's a joker, I swear!" She had bull-shit her way into bars for intel inside the deepest dives before..But being' a stand- in for one top sale to your label!?

"That's all too rich fer my tastes...But dollie? Where are the rest of the crowd-

"We will let them in soon, ooohh! Ron! You should tell me everything about your..ehem...extended-

"In a sec. But first." The fox tugged away his arm to narrow his eyes a bit. Aggie was surprised,though nothing shocking was not to be expected. A guardian pair...or maybe...

"That caller was you, wasn't it?" He said this , convinced that she had hacked her way in. That technique's use went both ways but...it was illegal by Sayu's position on Earth, Ron could be sentenced of his life turned upsidedown by a bad tabloid article!

"Yes..." The girl regressed. Aggie was in her time line then older, but acted a teenie bopper by her outfit in this universe. Why had this world changed her? Was she lacking in growth? No..she had traversed! It made sense! Then the recreated Agatha was not recreated...she was summoned by Shoji's lab rats! (Previous arc, Part two and later.

"Where is he, kid?" Vespa added with her arms crossed. Aggie paused , then let out an adorable laugh. One that sounded innocent enough on the surface..

 _"Ahahah!_ You think?.. no no...I don't care about him! My time was reborn so, I want to relive it! You guys are too funny!"

 **"NOT** _FUNNY."_ Ron stepped closer , trying to shake Aggie from her daydreams a while longer. ""You caused a goddess to go off the path of her kin, the heroes are searching for you to stop this charade! You left for what reason? Huh? Why are you acting the evil mastermind's pupil when we , the good guys know your real face?"

"I...you would only laugh!" Aggie shook her head then replied. "Come, come!" Aggie tugged Vespa who was caught off guard by the extra affection .

"I will tell you like you said, in private! Follow, _please?"_

"Just go with her , Ron?" Vespa begged as her grip was like a child's. Too needy...

 _"Fine!"_ Ron threw up his hands and started off towards the V.I.P hall. "We decide this off, once and for all."

"Excellent!" Aggie smiled which cut the foxs' confidence down a shred. A heart to heart was needed, as well as a way to quiet her new guests from lecturing the daughter of Delphi..

/

Ayane fought but had to do something- anything to slow Marcus from starting another 'end to end all ends!'

 _"Grraahh!"_ Kaede fought as well, just as skilled by her spiritual gifts as Lori was for Sakurano's outcome.

"I will meld in with his power! I will become a god! You **_cannot_** stop me!-

"Stop this at once! **_Yameru!"_** She revert to her world's native tongue as the pressure in the room smothered the good- guys' powers. Marcus was calling on fate, he was becoming a monster of unspeakable intent...

"Sore wa jubundesu!" Ayane brought her eyes to meet with a peeved Kaede. She had spoken those words after seeing the wreckage of Shojii's facility.

Kaede closed her eyes to chant aloud.

~Watashi wa densetsu no SUN uman o yobidashimasu watashitachi no tatakai o tasukete!~ It was too modern, though the spell had to work...it had to! Her fists lit with the light the kitsune had though she'd lost. Haru had to have known..everyone treated her as her true self...now..it was time to turn things to move ahead!

~Amaterasu -hime!~ Her eyes shone as the sun rays of a new day. Marcus was shocked by the immense power Kaede held, yet his arms still held that damned book. He was goig to counter her. Ayane saw this and called upon one deity she could trust.

~Aria! Lady of the Coastal waves ! I compell to you...lend me your strength!~

As if the daemoness had her eye on the brawl, the force of wind and water turned to ice for Sakurano's use. An ability combined as two , Aria had been forgiven for now. Switching to latin, Ayane collected her powers into a shot on the book in her enemy's hands.

~ **GLACIES!** Lumen terebramus acuto, quia anathema est illud pieces!~

The force was enough to send spires down onto the brat. He cried out a spell as the floor nearly gave, then cracked to bits by the ripple in space and time. ~I SUMMON THE REMAINING LORD'S FIRE! GIVE ME THE POWER OF THE OUTCAST GOD! THE DJINN SON OF DARK MOONS AND DYING SUNS! I DESIRE HIS STRENGTH!~

Ayane did not have time to wipe the sweat from her dirtied brow. As she stood panting for clean air again, Kaede stood with her wish unfulfilled. Marcus laughed maniacally with a gash to his forehead. He was still up? His blood rushed as the scale and mass of power within the dog's lab shuddered by the outside contact. ~Make me a god!~ He bellowed in aging unlike his own.

Poor Marcus continued to belive in devils ruling under his thumb, yet the light princess had yet to change everything.

~THE SUN WILL RISE TO DEFEAT THE MONSTER KING, OF TODAY **AND** TO-MORROW!~ A voice called out from below the ground, the crack in time's walls was heavily apparent.

As the rift broke apart a bit more, the void deepened to allow the heroes' Hime of the solar sect to reappear.

Just as predicted no less!

By her side, was Isis along with Astarte . The fighter deity dusted off the debris that had fallen, the crash having left more to repair upon their entry.

~He is trapped here.~ The chariot weilding deity sniffed, her head directed itself towards that evil book in the boy's hands.

It was frozen by Ayane's spell. However, the book's influence still entangled the child with tendrils of an evil influencer on the other side. He looked afaid as a school boy, not knowing what powers he had allowed free from the other side.

"We are...exhausted!" Kaede revert to her kitsune - trickster voice. Amaterasu had never forgotten! The princess looked kindly over to her old friend and seemed to feel the same way. ~Thank you for keeping the enemy enclosed within these walls.~ She said this as Astarte and her cousin closed the rift from behind them. The glass of the holding cell for the mass was at its limit.

Just as Marcus was about to shout out, he felt his heart literally quit its beating from inside his pained chest. He collapsed - though while still alive..yet his eyes remained aware of everything. He could not shut them! What hex was this?!

Ayane screamed out as the mass exploded through the shard shower as the tome did at the exact same time . The ice was shot to the ground as rifts of miasma smog started to again fill the lab with painful air. Sakurano Ayane covered her mouth and looked on in disbelief by what happened just then after..

Amaterasu tried to use her strength to seal the mass into a container of light, yet the unidentifiable figure breached by- her power was not as her former self...Amaterasu was losing , and Marcus was now stuck within a comatose state.

Astarte rushed, as she dashed across the ricketing floor to collect the red scale before it could become a threat by the tome's added power. Isis was a natural born healer. She quietly chanted beside Sakurano to recover both of their energies as the other warriors stood strong.

Kaede ran to collect Marcus from the ground, though found that the tome was preventing anything from doing so against its influence. Her finger were scorched, she saw the book radiate its energy all around what would become Manifesto's new host.

"He is trying to take hold of the boy!" Kaede shouted over the screeching walls, floors and howling infrastructure as if fell to pieces.

"The mass is _changing!"_ Isis gasped and pointed to the form inside Amaterasu's incomplete sphere. It was...

 _ **IMPOSSIBLE!**_

The hair of a spectre in raven black. Eyes as a red eyed demon of body of a seductress, not a harpy, yet without wings she flew ! The outcome..had changed drastically...

The mass was a woman, one connected to such a lore who could be their new source of infinite strife. With a toothy grin, the character cackled in mid-flight to the sky, _**~AAHAAHHH!**_ Akane's **_BACK,_** babyyy!~

/

Ava and her crew tranported to Italy, time was running short . Aiden had allowed this as she and Chris took care of finding the veteran Titans. Dami, Aiden, Zan, Henry, and Glen were forced to stay behind to knock some sense into the temporarily tied down Amelia with one of Robin's favorite accessories.

"How do we stop her?" Aiden was the first as her big bro to ask this. His concern that she had made a big 'uh- oh' again had the ruddish haired blonde steaming mad. "He took her anxiety in his clutches and toyed with poor Amy!" Aide snarled by the innocent loss of his ally's true innocence...

"Idiots! I **_Am_** her!" Screamed the bratty dopple. "She is _me!_ We are _duel_ opposites! Why !-

"Ami is still in there..." Dami looked to the girl, then to Aiden as that false hope was becoming tiresome at best.

"She won't let us in...any way to break in without permission?" Henry was hushed by Zan as she did not want the other daemon's host to hear them plotting.

"I can read your energies..." The dopple yawned beside her captors. "Why not bet on another's life inside of my lord-

 **"Stop** using her _voice!_ " Aiden growled back with the child's dead eyes in his view. "She...she is not gone and you know how to bring her back!-

"Heroes are not prison guards, laddie-

"Dami! Do you have one of those gadgets to get her to quit it? " Aiden pleaded with the other boy as Wayne's kid attempted to dig through his belt for a solution. "Here-

Aiden grabbed the tape tech from the titans' leaders hands. He did not spare a moment when it came to family.

"Ami is coming back, but you can just play the quiet game. " The sticky tape item went snuggly across the girl's mouth. Her eyes knew how to soften as he came close enough to speak - before the boy would even think his plan could work, she acted the damsel.

"B..bro?..W...what are you doing!-

"You are a _fake_ !" He cut her off, though his task was still not through. " I won't let you out until Ami is able to banish you for good!-

"B..but! Aide! You have one too!-

"W-

 _ **"Enough!"**_ Zan used her magic to tug Aiden from facing the trickster doll . She was being treated like this...he wanted to bawl his eyes out to grieve every loss so far! This was too unfair!

"I have to!-

 **"NO!"** Dami dragged Aiden by the collar to meet Glen's boots. "Big guy? Keep the kid from getting away from his team?"

"Please would have much better for you, _rich_ boy!" Aiden snapped before he was tossed at Glen, who bear hugged Aiden to death. It was to prevent him from getting anywhere near his little sister. This was a sacrifice, astage they hoped unlike last time with Ava.

"No! She's not going to tell us! We have to...Please let _me...Go!"_ Aiden's power was miniscule by hispact. Yet a spare was as a lighter burn to Glen , who yelped and clumsily had to regather his cap-

"Not now!" Aiden kicked the frost elven half blood before Henry used his wand to defend the giant.

"Hold **still!"** Henry grunted as his aim was far from the mark to put Aiden into the range of his sleeping spell. " T'is...n..kay..." Glen grimaced with a sour look on his face. "Kid...has ...-

"Glen!" Henry gasped, then turmed his eyes on a fleeing Aiden Grayson.

"What would your _sister_ think!?" Dami shouted before the wizard of the greenest glen could protest first.

"I lost...my two sisters! Anna is still inside that crazy storybook!" Aiden shouted back to the late Robin. "I _failed_ them! Anna was the oldest next to Ava...I didn't win any wars...she's not ok! I..I want Ami and that kid is going to !-

"Stop it!" The voice to shriek the men to seize was none other than Lady Amelia . She huffed once all, had finally settled. "Ehem! I am a villain? So? What is with your bickering ? It is not at all proper of real heroes! Fix your attitude or Ami will never be found! -

"I so don't want you talking like you have morals! You are a !-

"I am the self on the other side...of the miko's talisman...the sacred mirror. " Amelia let the words sink in around the rooftop setting. "Mirror? As in, opposites?" Glen asked .

"Yes, and the only way is through a mirror inside of THAT world." The dark eyed child replied with a forced nod. Her neck was not in the best position to be talking 'sass' to the teens. That was the _REAL_ Ami's job! Not her dark side's!

"So?" Dam crossed his arms and frowned. "Where is it?"

"The mirror shall not come forth. I may not summon it. Only a goddess can do unto we what I hath done to-

"Dim witted archetype!" Glen shouted as his ears rung by the excuses. "Henry was her friend! You are nothing more than an imp by your behaviour..no..even imp are of the law we bare! You are cowardly! Face him! This 'master' is no better than a miserable swindler of souls!"

"Easy, tough guy!" Zan soothed as best she could the frost fae's wild temper. "We still have a chance to turn this around. Where is the mirror or an equivalent copy? " She asked the dopple. "There should be a main temple where they hold one here in Japan-

 **"Hah!** The fox sisters left the place to us! The temple was trashed as SHE took the mirror and placed it within your girl..." The demonic child smirked as Aiden soon became impatient enough to speak. "Then you are going too. We are going -

"Amaterasu is in the tallest tower..of a certain dog of hades!" The team gasped in unison by Amelia's words. Aiden grit his fists and turned to the roof exit. "What are you doin?" Glen called out.

The blonde just kept walking however, refusing to let matters rest. He had let her run off back into another dream time disaster! He had failed...but it was time to fix this, once and for all.

 _"Mmm,_ and _how_ do you expect to upsurp my lord?" The girl asked as her voice carried to meet Aiden's two ears. He stopped, then turned to reply with a crooked, confident grin. "She's my sister, my family and teammates won't let Manifesto's tricks scare us. Right you guys?"

"Yup!" Glen threw up and arm with Henry slung over his shoulder. The garbled words of the kid wizard were unread by his team as anything other than a sickly sort of gibberish. The toxic stuff Amelia had injected could be neutralized at the lab where Aiden was headed.

"The dog's not around!' Zan realized as she contained Amelia inside a balloon of energy to keed her powers in check. "He won't be back , but what-

"No time." Aiden had to start off with a sprint before the portal in front of him,deterred the boy from walking off.

 _"Non, non!_ The puppy won't have it!" The kids saw the being as a sorcerer in blue. He had wavy brown hair and fan- girl gaga features of a model. The man held a clich rose inbetween his fingers and twirled it before dropping the pretty piece to the ground . It shattered the sky as a mozaic of colours brought the team far from their destination.

"This is the day..yet your time has to end or...Sigh..I shall not hear the end of it!" He laughed as the sky around them spun, pulling the heroes in as Amelia was freed from her captive.

"About time! I was a sitting duck!" She pouted, reminding Aiden that Ami was still in there somewhere.

"My lordship has spoken! He says that you intend to free your friends...? Are you opposing our beautiful to be goddess? I am going to paint the sky a different shade! Only for our demise!" Charl lept up with a wand as a brush in his hand. He chanted words in his native language,then left his guests speachless by the former knight's power.

"I turned by my desire to be...another! An Artist! The nerve of my father! I was sent to work, to fight the good fight...I never finished...my , masterpiece!"

He allowed the reds, blues, and orange to grey splatter across this uncanny resemblance of an illusion. Aiden looked away ,though squinted through the paint shower as he searched for...-

"Aha!" Zan noded as she too had located the noisy brat dopple. "Hah! Ent-

 _ **"Wah!"**_ Zan was swung upside down by the strands of cavas that had come to life. Sharpened, sheets left the sorceress strapped down inside a warped cocoon of paper. Glen attacked as his brute strength jammed the ink stains to dip from the canvas world onto his team. He cried out as Henry was placed to the side. "Let us free you monster!"

"Oh _my!"_ The snickering brunette teased as his brush was now coated in a shade of silver. "I must defend my unfinished piece! Amelia, darling?"

"With _pleasure,_ imp boy!" Ami's doppleganger laughed as her teeth were no better than a certain aspect's from, some previous years of misery..

 **~Halt!~** The riot came from a voie in the dark, a voic that had Amelia gasping to speak. No..no!

"You should be buried!" She screamed at the top of her lungs to that voice. That voice, that would ruin everything...

~Nay , child. I am what built this portion of your soul...you should respect those who bring you all you've asked! Stand down, NOW!~

The voice had Charl also looking to the sky for answers. Manifesto had won, hadn't he?

"My leige, Lord of Manifestation! " The brunette called out to appease this angered , omnipotent being out of their reach.

"She is only to aid-

I , am no book bound in sheep's skin, peasent!~

The imp revert as his devil's form quivered in the presence of another. Aiden felt it as well as Zan and Glen. This was magic, a dark kind that dragged you into the abyss...

"Who's there!?" Dami called out as his breath turned to ice. Glen too clutched the limp form of Henry as his comatose state only deepened by the team simply, 'lollygagging away' (as Vanderbilt might have described their circumstance any better.)

"Are you our enemy too?" Aiden had his team gawking by the obvious question of the blonde's. His eyes never left where Amelia dared to look away. ~I am an overseer beside the king of illusion and delusion. ~ The voice was clearer now, sounding a mix between male and female. A bit deeper than that of Lilu or even Veronica.

~Don't toy with your servants...eh..you are of his right hand, I take it?~ Charl now had to rethink his plans to win over Manifesto! Who was this personal servant to the bound tome? Where did it come from?

~Hmm, you all are _unable_ to guess? I must be speaking in tongues..~ The crature sighed ,and on its breath it appeared in the air.

"No. Way...that means he's!-

"No, that..." Zan gasped as she searched her team over for the same reaction. "Roko!" Aiden cried up to the daemoness in the flesh.

"R-ro...Why?" Amelia sniffled as her inner child wept by the sight of the dragon's old hench-woman. "Why did they have to bring you here?.." She bawled into her hands as the other's dark magic left the girl drained. She had the palor of a real ghost, and that scared the blonde boy so much more, as if Ami had been facing the heroes...

"This...this is a surprise?.." The imp Charl chuckled as the heroes stood , unable to inerrrupt for fear that they too would be dragged where none could hope to escape.

~I was summoned by the last bit of evidence that ties the dragon to the human realm. The conscious realm, though you expected me to just play along? I shoud have guessed an impish ingrate such as yourself would wish the power that Manifesto, has so kindly bestowed onto me..~

The self Roko was older , maybe nearly Lilith's height by how time had pasted her by. How had she survived? Did that man that the dragon would again be revived inside a new vessel? Aiden shouted out to the goth Amelia as her mascara ran down the child's cheeks.

"Ami's life isn't worth losing yours over!" He tried to say to talk some sense into the aspect youth. She was in danger of becoming fodder for the worst of the worst!

"I...I am under contract, boy! Do not involve yourself!" She shouted back, her voice cracking. Aiden felt a lump inhis throat form. As if by his will , he mind spoke to Dami, Glen, and Zan as the demons spoke. Minus one dopple.

~What be the case?~ Glen demanded an answer as to how the boy had the ability of his kin. ~No time, I think I can speed things up- but Zatara is going to have to make a way through, to grab Ame-

 _~This_ again, Grayson?~ Damian jumped in as Robin , knowing Zatara was too willing to help if he could. He didn't want anyone lost inside this illusion place without a way home. It was too risky to anger any more monsters!

~No! I know what to do as long as I have a shot. But you guys have -

~No one is the leader here.~ Dami reminded them that the Titans still had an opening. ~If you get us all banished to the 'under-whatevers' , then no one is going to make it in time to stop the real mastermind.~

~Manifesto...I could locate him by my telepathic connection.~ Zan added as soon as Dami had stopped squinting at poor Aiden. Two of his family had become props in a villain's dinner theatre performance. Why was he so touchy about taking a risk? This was unlike Robin..but Dam...He was defending her...worse! When had they been together ever!?

~I'll go ahead and try.~ Zan said this without a slight bit in her voice of any hesitation. ~What about the kiddo?~ Glen asked. ~Miss Amelia can save Henry with her venomous nailpolish I think. Didn't that happen the last time? ~

~Was too early but news travels fast in the spirit world, I take it.~ Zan smiled as her companions all decided on a vote.

~Damian, Aiden, go after Amelia and get the venom to save Henry. Restrain her and I'll open a portal as soon as I make contact with that 'Manifesto' character. ~

~What about Miss Roko up there, floatin' about?~ Glen again pointed out. ~She is an eagle ready to strike by her stance. Ths might be difficult, so let me aid the boys in their fight.~

~I am sorry we left you out, big guy!~ Aiden smirked as Dami rolled his eyes in annoyance. ~Just disconnect already, Grayson! We don't have all century to make up our minds!~

The contact broke as the villains had soon ended their debate- yet another one had arisen.

"What the!?" Dami and Aiden both gasped .

~He was being pushy. ~ Roko smiled by her handiwork. Charl had been turned into the largest moth monster - his blue and silver swarming familiars were in numbers above the heroes' heads.

"You..MADE him _**transform!"**_ Zan brought her arm out to create a defensive barrier around the group. She had seen it. Aiden was growling over the mistake- they had been distracted!

~Scatter and go bye-bye, little _Titans!~_ Roko cackled and sent her cronie forth.

The creature once as Charl, roared with its antennae twitching in desparation. It wanted to consume, as if this world... paper..this whole world was made of Charl's art! They were next! It was a danger zone as the moths devoured every outline of the false world. Aiden managed to save his garb of the Phoenix's Chosen as he dodged and flew by with the help of his powerful blade.

Dami shot down the rest with birdarangs, the sword he kept was given some fire power by Zan's magic over it. She used the barrier to steal a few minutes..just a few while the team remaining fought to take down the devils of this crazy dream- realm.

"Ami...just hang on..." Aide grit histeeth and avoided the sputtering powder from the great moth's wings. He shielded most of it , but coughed in the rest. ~Hero!~ Roko had seen him..no!

 _"Fall back!"_ He shouted as the reminder took her arm up to redirect the monster's attention. Zan screamed as Dami was knocked back by a wide gust of the creature's wings. "Aaagh! Don't make me attack!"

He shut out the pain before attempting to fight the swarm 'up close and personal.' "Take me out and we will shut you both down! You too! Right this NOW!" He called out to Amelia last,as if he still wanted her to listen to his words. Ami..who was she to these people? What could that little girl hope to accomplish, when she was a prisoner anyway inside the great tome's pages?

"No good!" Glen shouted as other rest was set to turn to ashes in mere moments. Aiden's power was bound to unleash from his conscious state. They would make a door back to earth. Back to their home!

~Unveil...open now!~ He had not used a spell which had Zan gaping by the efforts of the current 'Chosen'.

"Like he said!" Dami sent a birdarang to cut the swarm in two as it exploded in a burst of light and smoke. _**"NOW!"**_

He bellowed as Aiden let it loose. His sword cut the veil holdimg this realm together. Roko tsked with a click of her tongue , setting off through the first light of an opening. ~Your pretty princess is still my lord's toy!~ The daemon lady creature reminded the blonde and his allies. "Am!-

"I...I won't -

~Defy Manifesto, defy _**me?~**_ Roko grabbed the tween by magic bonds and tugged her along. A portal did the rest as the two split the scene before Glen and Aiden could attack. ~Finish the job, imp!~ Roko shouted the command to poor Charl as he wildly thashed in a cloud of smog. The birdarang had done damage as he was forced to change forms.

 **~Rrrraaah!~** The parisian daemon was returned to his form of a brunette 'ex- soldier.' "They...will not leave his world by my honor! Now, go!" His scalp was lit with magic,dark arts in his blood as the sorcerer called aloud a broken language to the air.

"He's gonna attack!" Glen was the bearer of obvious news as Zan decided to go on the offense. Robin pushed to get to her side, he passed a lost looking Aiden as Ami's last thread left on this plane , was dagged from right before his eyes...

"She's not Ami." Dami grunted for the blonde to wake up. "But...it could be a lead to finding her!-

"Shut it and get Zan some back up!" He really wanted to smack the sentimental dummy for being so slow. He was going to get them all swallowed up into the abyss below their feet. "Zan! I'm coming! Hold on!" He didn't care. The kid was his age but no Titan. Never like Grayson or Kori. He was too easy to manipulate.

Dami quickly decided and turned to the bratty seventeen going on eighteen year old with a blank stare. He grabbed the boy's arm and they ran to where Zan was defending herself . He had to have been just as weak! Gosh!

"But!-

"Grow up! This is our fight! Amy can wait, they don't want her dead . Why else is she still so important?"

Aiden bit his lip and reflected on those words as the two met upwith their three team members. "Glen, you want to take him?" Dami panted and sent the kid closer to meet the half- fae's back. "Heck!...Aiden? Why do you look so lost a sudden? Why's he-

"We..have to get out...let me go offense!" The brat split and used his sword to jump the gun. Zan saw Aiden face the mad- sorcerer in the midst of a smoke screen.

"He's going crazy!" She tried her hand at tossing a projectile attack at the walls of their collapsing prison, though Roko had already departed with Ameliavthrough those walls. Aiden was going stir crazy. He would not stop until his siblings were safe and sound.

 _~Hello!~_ A voice came to Zan through the speak. Ah! It was Ava! She had made it to safety.

~Where are you? We made it to Shoji's lab! It is locked up tight. Why aren't you close by? Why is Aiden's aura unse-

~A lot is happening..he went..berserk! Roko took Amelia and he won't stop until we escape...Charl trapped us in another dimension...~

~What is furthest of your status so far?~ Christopher added as the two had gone together. He had sworn to protect the Barren's future ruler.

Zan paused before considering tge question carefully. ~Ugly.~ She replied in one word. ~Charl was sent into a state which transformed him, then he transformed back and now...he's unstoppable...-

~Wait..Roko!?~ Ava interrupted Chris from speaking as Zan kept pelting the unbreakable sorcerer with her magic. Nothing. Nothing was working! He was a brick wall, forcing them to back away from their only way to Earth.

~We can't get outside, it's an illusion that's falling to pieces! Charl's other form decimated its structure..now we have only ...~ She tried to send mental images of the realm. Ava frowned or so Zan could sense she'd do by that response.

~Have your team dig themselves out from there before your hell collapses.~ Christopher turned to his lady. ~Ava, we can send word to the deity Alue...or -

~I don't want to stand aside, but yes. I know someone better suited alongside darkness - realms than myself.. ~

~Who?~ Zan was desparate though curious still.

Sadly, the crumbling below had the team scrambling to hang on. Aiden ripped a hole finally into the fabric or reality, though he was rushed into by Charl before his plan could be finalized.

~You'll see. Don't look down and keep the jester busy.~ Ava ended the contact as the world seemed once again only hanging by a thin strand. Aiden was barreling back into Charl with his blade still useless against the power crazed magician. The vile self of Charl's form was now airborn as it transformed once more...

~No...~ Aiden saw it as Ava's connection to the Chosen had her breathing heavily. "Ava?" Christopher caught the princess as she panted by the shock.

"They...Charl is now turned...he is a true demon in form..." She held her temples and prayed this not be the end...calling...contacting...Alue would not be enough!

/

Agatha was ready to start. Her feet tapped lightly as the lights turn on one by one above her standing frame. The mic was warm in her grip. The second to stand tall would be after this mock warm up. Her lure rang out by that pitch she sang, the one that had made her a star in the humans' eyes.

~Turning back _tiiime,_ I'd give it all away. Do you _have?_ A _rooom_ to spare. My feet are aching, back feels as if , a _ton_ of bricks...have driven it to -

~Stand **tall!** A mountain is not _iiin_ my way- I scale over - **top,** until I **drop!** Drop to meet the bottom where _you_ should be ! We **cry!** Out _intoo_ the dusty air. The desert never felt so _aliive_ as I travel it to turn back time...returning, to where you _aare...~_

~I hold the gavel, are you ready _to_ repent! We have lived forever in the past, now move while I _dance_ for us! For the time we lost, will never _come_ agaain! ~

She shouted, using the moves of her model behavior ( every magazine had a shot of those choreographed moves.) Her body swayed as if sirens were air born round her on this tiny stage.

Music inside and out drove Aggie to riot as a performer of her calling. A deity of drama...she felt freed from those eys for only now. Later, her trials would begin again.

~Hold me tightly, we are _losing_ ground. You are falling back- the stream of time is _ever_ winding...Give in ...Give give give _innn_ to _mee!_ You cannot escape this _spiral_ dance! ~ What the dumb producers did not know, was that she was casting a spell by the craft learned from true sorceresses of divine intent. Agatha of the Sect of Delphi was unstoppable.

 _~Hummmmm,_ your _timmme_ is **up!** Return with me to our love...eternity...~ Her number endedcas the lights turnd down. Clapping could be heard from the girl's staff. "Better than your last!" Mariella smiled by how the foreign artist had all sights set on her. "Yes, yes! Belissimo!" The M.C was amazed by how he could have doubted the girl's potential. Was she this good?

"Thank you, I don't know though where that opening act is...-

"We are here and ready ." Vespa stepped forth in one of her better outfits. Her hair was set to fall to her hips as the woman wore only darker shades. Ron was beside her and wore white and black. He looked stunning in what seemed to be a funky suit with studs and choker? How risque!

"My, you..two are new?" Mariella tugged her shirt's collar by how intimidating yet bedazzling the couple was( they had been chosen by the infamous 'Aggie-G 'after all!)

"We aren't anything special, ma'ame" Ron chuckled with his dopy grin still one of his best traits.

"Ehem, we came as soon as Aggie told us about the incident...What is the plan? He may be rusty, but my Bass is always packed where it's kept clear of dust and old memories-

"Are you ...retired?"

"No, no! A short hiatus! No need to worry. " Vespa reassured the M.C as her eyes kept Aggie's powers from showing off too much. "Aggie is an old friend from a show in Sydney with this -

"Ron, but I went as WOS with meh' band back ...say, four years till today?"

"Long, hiatus-

"I was still active. BUT modeling took up a ton of time . Had bills to pay, the most of that free time was for survival.." Vespa interrupted with a shrug as she had saved Ronnie-

Yet again! Ugh..the clown could have had their cover blown!

"I was redirecting myself as somethijng less,self discovery...worked out fine. Got a tan out of it at least for a month.."

"They are a funny pair, fantastic then!" Aggie smiled and clapped her hands together before grabbing the dogs' (one hand in each.)

"Well, I want to see how good you are now! Care to step onto that stage?" The M.C was enthralled by the story. Mariella was taken by the lover boy Ron from this headline worthy, rock band ...WOS?...What did that stand for?.

"Sorry, Scuzi...But, WOS -

"Wall of shame if that makes any difference. He went solo fter getting most of the attention- drove his fans loco but..that's showbiz!" Vespa again had less to add after all had been spoken. She decided to take up Aggie's offer however. A sorceress against a priestess of dark shadows, and an esper at that...

"Why not a sing off? Or a battle? Your best against this old' soul's rhythms?" Vespa proposed and patted her chest pridefully. Aggie looked to her manager and the M.C. They were having fun just watching the act! Mariella nodded with cautiously as she took less action than the dogs' mamas.

"Why not? New blood or old..." Aggie gracefully brushed past Vespa to whisper into her ear, darkly. "I wonder who's blood will be spilt first?.."

/

Verra was quieted for a while, while Shoji Takahara dragged on to locate Charl's hidden hideaway with the Pope's home. Kaien was already hot on the monk's blood trail. The guardian Kayu was outside the church walls. He had one cat gone solo to collect for an even bigger twist of fate.

Lao Ming was out there, wandering to try and sneak her way in for a better chance...what was her problem?

"That cat is making me run out in the rain..Ah!, yet for _**what?"**_ Kay could ask himself this a thousand times over. Yet the answer was clear.

She was drained of her energy. Milling about would return the Tenkit woman's strength in time, yet Ming had no real plan but to wait..For what though? Charl was as useless in this case to her as Verra was to Shoji lending a paw.

"No coffee for this kit , dead of night and still no heads or tails of the Sheila... " He sighed. "Mum always said I had potential. Where did it run off to? I hope to _gods_ that Ron is having a killer time with is' mates." Whenever this defect ran Kayu back to the Celestial realm with his tail between his legs, he just hoped Sayu would crack the whip with a conscience.

Kay looked to the air as the rain had stopped for a while , only untilhe made it closer to the outer reaches of the country side. "Agh...Shoji had better let me in on his brilliant plans." The fox groaned. "I am a dead duck drenched in buckets ah' sea water out here!"

Lao Ming had huddled inside a local hotel for warmth. This was not the days of Robin Hood! How could she have survived then without Marcus's bonus in her pocket? "Too bad this false humanity is wasted on the likes of us." Ming frowned and decided to have something to eat. She called for someone and was not disappointed. A suite like this was something she could never afford without her dear lord's kindness...

"I could, but assassination is a cruel way to go.." She let her arms drift overhead as the decor only seemed less than in her reach. Leaning back, Ming layed on her large bed and softly had the pillows there to caress her aching skull. She was to recover, then go back after the woman known as Catheine Daia.

"That pooch is very persistant, but I always manage to escape with my tail tied. " Ming smirked by her prideful thoughts. She was a warrior for the old nation of her people...a traitor, yet King Araakn-yawur had been her dearest ally of the dynasty of Fuu-Ri. (Furry. Hardy har to that!)

"Before the Princess Jin -Wei , there was war among our kind.." As Ming recalled the grain that could only pass as bartering , as currency to keep she and her mother alive...

"Ba-ba rose up and fought bravely, the king rewarded..." She curled up her fists and growled. "The Dynasty of Lord Nyaewzeer WAS the last Hin I faced as a killer...That..that Kitten! Lady JinMae was the daughter of a murderer...why should I care what becomes of her allies ?" Ming had her fire back as the puppet cats danced by her side. "Those dogs will pay for allowing the girl to rule! I won't have it!"

Lao Ming readied her weapons as she set out into the world through a balcony window to her suite. No story was without some 'dramatic departure .' This would be quite tragic for a certain official of Roman blood.

However, in Ming's life, she had never seen this picture . This illusion was by a cerain tome. Yet Lao Ming did not recall her past strongly enough to stop the demon's terrible reign over her mind. She had actually been a servant, forced to fight by her father's orders. The war that Manifesto had planted in the Tenkit child's brain was fictitious by far. Though adding in Jin Mae as an enemy worked all too well for the cursed storybook's plans to unfold.

/

Shoji clambered past the staff that night to search high and low for a secret passage. According to some gossiping brothers, Hecate's doorway was under the church , right where Cici possibly took to visiting the crone to report her findings.

~She's sly, not to mention the kind that doesn't enjoy losing.~ Cecilia Crscendo Daia was a powerful figure beside Sayu, Aluehainyu, Dreamwake, and even Bao Shi Lan. Tsani was still mastering her abilities. It had only been fourty ethereal years in time for the spirit worlders.

"Glad I don't age. Death kept me pretty..but Hecate hates to break code. She's one day going to let Chronos have a piece of her judgement..None' ll be spared.." He bit his lip and wondered when that day would be. When the Teen Titans were dead and buried themselves?

Kaien was lost, his sniffer was weak against...?

"Ow...that...scent!" The cat pounced as his arms caught an unlikly figure around the corner.

"Agh...w..wait?!"

The dog blinked back and thought his eyes had spied a ghost.

"Tsani?" She stood before a brilliant moon as it peaked up over medeival style turrets across the heart of old Rome.

Her hair had not become as long as Tsukiyume's, though her face had become prettier with age and her grace far beyond any deity's throughout time space. "You are well, no..Why are you beyond your home!" He asked in a nervous whisper. "If Bao Shi discovers you mising from the Eternal and Celestial factions...We could be in serious danger!-

 _~Guardian Veravakumu.~_ Tsani's light eyes of sky blue smiled back at the dog with the grace of a lotus's morning bud. ~I have come to open a path with my light and power. Hecate awaits..~ She let her lanturn relic light with the power of Time's own knowing. Tsani was unable to speak yet could use the Ancient speak as a way to communicate. Her starry eyes shut slowly as the air drifted down , dropping the hallway's temperature as her astral presence began to wane.

"Tsani...Malady-

 _~Go_ to her, Verra...~ The lady of hope and light pointed as a traverse opened before the cat's two stunned orbs.

~I will, thank you...My, Lady..~

Tsani nodded then bowed a gracious bow before disappearing into the night sky.

Shoji took to the underground passage, as the last person he'd have guessed to have been its keeper had emerged right on time to open the door to Hecate's realm.

"Sigh...I wonder if Solario was so lucky...Tsani is the next candidate to take the role of the departed, Lady Light. She may even don the cap sooner, with her abililies growing like I just witnessed..." Having decided on a path once the road was split, Takahara took to allowing Verra some ground to cover with his unique sniffer.

"Hiff hiff? Oh,righty- o...Ok...I smell...Bats!?" Verra as the dog beside its partner Shoji, jumped by the stink of underworld critters.

"Bats? Are they familiars, Vee? " Takahara asked as he walked behind his current compadre. "No...no...It...they are watchdogs in a sense..eyes in the sky like a mobile alarm system..tread quietly...or-

A stone was kicked by Shoji as he had only to avoid Vee's angry red and yellow eyes.

"Damnit you dog! We have gotta bolt! Down there!" The cat whooshed* by as Shoji clung to his fellow's aura. The thread it had woven was gripped by the con cat as Verra had no trouble picking up the pace. Bats was the start. The ceiling above was a cave- a big one with stalagtytes, (typo I am aware ) Mites, big ol' bites and more mayhem than her hell had to offer! The underworld's late queen certainly loved her privacy enough to dwell down in the catacombs!

The two ran as the bats flew down and up, around and overhead the duo.

 _"Argh!_ Quiet was too much to ask? **Duck** !" The fox hybrid self dove to the side as its fur grazed a set of bat claws in moments. **_"Owwyyy!"_** The pup cried as Shoji recalled the fun he'd had when the mutt had been confined to that one guise as good ole' Vee.

(All arcs including first, new beginning. Verra lost his memories (once he was sent to the later time of our heroes in this previous arc.) His task was given to him by Isis once Roku had broken free from The pit of ends . He was unable to change forms until his power had later returned in Rest of us and Shadows and Creatures ' etc ' (along with his full identities as Veravakumu and Takahara Shoji of Takahara Corp.)

"Where ..is the..way to Hecate's throne!? Where? We can't run forever!" Shoji pant* heavily while the two fought to evade the flying rodents. Too bad that these were not fruit bats. Vampire? Yes, most likely.

 _"Grrr!_ I am **sick** of running around chasing my own **hide!** " Verra growled angrily out to the empty space of the caverns. "HEC! Lady folk! Get yer butt out so we can tango the right way!"

Shoji gasped and drew out his palm to reclaim Vee. He was way too hyper for words. A goddess had been talked to in such a vulgar manner that his ears would have bled venom!

"Hecate, _please!_ Ignore my companion! We request your help! The world is in grave danger!-

"That it may be..." The voice had a mouth indeed, yet it was not Hecate's. Verra growled at the blank arena as his fur stood on end. "Young and pretty, bold? You know that this is the fate of the balance an' all? Come out and we can talk politics. Just you an my partner!"

The chuckle from the other voice was from a woman, one not so close to a certain daughter's age...

"Why run around, not on my watch!" She teased. "Oh, _Verra!_ I am sorry to have deceived your allies...It was my choice to make.."

"Cici, been a few years too many." Shoji grunted as the darkly clad priestess revealed herself at long last. "Likewise, _tyrant._ Your dog is still with a loud mouth and a hot temper...I wish you had better control over his ranting.." She sighed with a frown, her head shook by the bout going on within, slowly feeling the annoyance building in her dear ally 'the dog of hades' heart.'

Shoji shrugged and tried again to control his disobedient self. No real luck this time either. "My power is weaker since the fight, we are on the lookout for an imposter. "

 **"Oh?** Is he ugly as a Djinn and sworn to secrecy as a hermit under a mound?"

"No trolls are so easy to spot, highness." Takahara smiled by her jest. "No , he is clothed to look like a brother. The pope trusts this fella' who is actually a spy of our current enemy ...Manifesto-

"He is _indeed_ a trickster at heart...though not within Rome I fear."

Shoji frowned and had the urge to scratch his chin. Verra scratched an itch by his ear with a hind leg instead . "You mean he's the faker's fake idenity? See? I caught that before Shoj here could pick up the pieces!" Verra beamed while Cici simply continued explaining the actual reason.

"True, the real Shifter imp is not inside Italian borders any longer. He used the channels to escape. Kaien made it as far as he could here, yet you are together, the last of our allies within the chapel .."

"Then...Kaien is now after ..." The fat cat gasped. **"Cathy!** She is who he's _really_ going after !"

 _"Mother_ has gained too many fans while on Earth." Cici hated to be the center of attention for too long. She had taken to Hecate's teachings in order to center her dark side. So far, no outbursts.

"Catherine is who we look for, but what about the threat on the pope?" Takahara asked the priestess.

"She is no threat without the faction, she's a plain _figurehead_ beside Hecate's p-

Cici cleared her throat to try again. Her words would be useless here covering up more mysterious happenings.

"The reason for Hecate's lasting peace was by the side 'Crescendo, _never_ Daia.' Mother has reclaimed these roles, as I will be forced to bear the widow's mark in the future...Our sect is everlasting as the great void is vast. " She replied.

"I can see why they trust you, not for the with fact that you hold the same energy as the Crone mother." Shoji commented. His counterpart yawned, posing still as an adorable hybridized cat.

"As honest as they see me, I am not so _noble_ as you have been for the Chosen, Takahara." The blonde did not enjoy the guardian male's praise. Too noble indeed as she looked away to move farther from the shadows that had cradled the witch's form.

"As for the Chosen, his allies are in danger. " Shoji said this with the urgency in his voice masked by serious undertones. She was wasting his time, as was he her's.

"The sun girl and her sibling of the fire bird. We of the council are attempting to find the thread that will release his hold over that book." Cici spoke, though Shoji did not believe her words at once. "You can come here again to speak with Lady Hecate, yet be warned . The witch is unwell, her serious affliction was due to the dragon's teacher. The strix has always foreshadowed these events. Even Inanna was not able to stop the demoness once her curse had taken effect..Any deity of the left will be burned by her wisdom...The strix will not relent. That is why I too must suffer "

"Cici...you were cured-

"I was, _then_ it came to me again...the widow and I are destined to die as one entity." The blonde added with her cowl's hood now in place over her distant , green eyes.

"We can find the way to -

 **"No,** Takahara. " The witch rejected his generous proposal, as her one word spoken echoed acros the walls to the under-realm.

"Live and allow those children to continue their tale. You must remain a guardian before you too have no rite to hold that pledge high." She was right, Cici was losing herself to a pact with the wise widow keeper. A spirit that had once tried to turn the daemon mother Sayumon from her duties. She had been sentenced to that fate by Roku as he had laid seige to the Eternal keep. Rokuro, his on was taken that day. Sayu had never again spoken until the time he had almost had her people up in arms.

Thankfully, (An eternal tomorrow and part one these new years arcs) the war had been stopped short, the valkyrie precession thwarted by the guardians and Titan chosen's quick reaction to the dangers that were bound to erase the earth from existance.

"Those _children_ know not of the mind, how it is fickle, yet _moldable_ by the defeat of one's spirit. "

"Is that what _we_ should be expecting?" Shoji thought the idea grim, depressing even! Hecate had done a true number on the diva for all this time she'd been locked away! That was why Cecila had flocked to Lilith. To gain protection..from the order of Crescendo..

"I won't let you suffer, not even if that is your wish. You have a will, then stop and think about what that is doing! " He was upset, Cici saw that worry over her cloud the pup's judgement. Her eyes turned to a tawny gold as she stared back with her lips pursed into a frown.

"None should direct the other. Let us be off then, you wish to speak directly with Queen Hecate." Jjst to have the dog quithis guilt tripping. It was enough to travel through portals noon and night!

"I want you to hear what I am going to say to your, teacher." He paused at the last word. That title did not suit the hypocrite that was the crone herself.

"I warn you though." Cici looked to the dog, then had them follow through a passage as it opened inside the wall shehad been standing by. "There _will_ be trials. You do not fully hold her trust. You were away to be tried, yet you left the hearing and did not **identify** the reason. "

"I'll tell her what she needs to know. As long as Maat is watching." Shoji nodded as Verra padded along.

"No, **you** stay here." Shoji stopped the aspect in his tracks with a turn back towards the dog creature. _"Aww!_ I am _soo_ truatworthy! Why the fuss?" The aspect Verra snorted and kicked his leg up in protest. "I ama part of you of our darkness! Why am I never invited to the fun events, hah?"

"Hecate is ...She would tame you." Shoji muttered something more as the cat self pricked up its ears in surprise. "Deity..are scary folk, you know that?"

"That is why you can't come. Wait for me here and **don't** go anywhere." Shoji commanded. "We have to make it out of here alive, got it?"

The self lowered its tall ears and groaned.."Garwsh...you have _all_ the fun, Vee-

"That is you, not my respected form. "

"Just sayin' yeah..I won't go no place!" The cat shrugged, then laid down like a good doggie for his contracted partner. His perfect pose was as if he would wait until hell froze over for his master's return. What a dedicated way to show how much you'd kick a person later for abandonment!

"Good, then I won't be dead and gone yet." Shoji smirked before turning back to Cici. She had an amused look on her face. The cat's relationship with his aspect was very amusing. Her widow mother companion was not so much to even bat an eye if she ever chose to joke around like the fox did.

"Then are we ready to traverse-

"Oh, right...Underworld _business."_ The con man cat rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Had almost forgotten that it's a long way down. "

"Like I said." Cici sighed and used her powers to weave a portal into existance. "The void is vast. Here is not an exception to any god, nor creature of the nether regions. Now, follow. We haven't time to stand around . I was only hoping you'd have told me sooner."

Shoji gaped by how Cecilia had been judging the older male's every move- what a brat!

"Right behind you, malady Daia."

"I _prefer_ you not call me by any name that could upset the balance. Cici to you, will do just fine."

The ..so saying or speaking the name Daia was taboo here? As far as its meaning, saying Crescendo was allowed. The day, was however forbidden from this dark realm. Light was no enemy, yet it left the balance, the perfect embodiment of darkness to squirm. Worms, bats, moles, who knew what lurked beneath the floor of her tomb!?

Dogs were borderline as wolves could only just pass as allies. Yet cats? They must have been pretty unlucky for Hecate to have seen these creatures as dual aspects of her power.

 _~Stay safe, Verra.~_ Shoji hoped that time would not wind forwards by his venture into the next realm. He had to win the goddess over, once and for all.

Before the true evil emerged (and never in his time,) would that evil have the mind or thought to release his captives?

The sun, the fire bird's child of Amaterasu's teachings...this was the endgame to come. Shoji took a step into total darkness as he could have sworn a voice had left his brow coated with sweat, his skin shivered by a presence unlike any he had felt in eons.

 _ **~Welcome**_ boy, to the _end_ of time...~

The cat's skin pricked by the touch of something, yet nothing was there. Shoji was sweating now, more than just by his brow. He had no choice. With a sigh, the dog slowly closed his eyes. The words returned and with that second sight he saw it. The creature which had this web so interwoven, one could lose their sanity for good if they overstayed their wel...come...

With an eight legged reminder of its power, the almost deva- being spoke with its breath thick and sultry against the world around Takahara. He was afraid, it was a huge..HUGE!-

~And _welcome.~_ Its fangs dripped a venom that had smoke rising from the darkened earth of this netherealm.

 _Welcome,_ to the beginning of this world...This world, in which _you shall not ESCAPE..~_

 _/_

 _Occult junk is fun to put into words..addictive even- no wonder our post-human minds of the past and our ancestors told myths that defied reason or reality at all! An imaginitive artform if given life to expand ones' horizons- as an artist! Just a fan girl's thoughts but poetic, no?_

Anywho! Next is Shoji's meeting with the keeper of nightmares and alternate ends and beginnings- Aggie is going to battle sing out her lungs against two fox guardians!

Where are Amy and Anna now? What is up with Marcus conking out in the middle of his master plan? All to come next in chapter eleven ! Manifesto pages! Stay curious and read on for the exciting conclusion!


	12. Chapter 12

Teen Titans; New Generations - Storyteller Arc Part Two; Manifesto Pages - Chapter 11: Catastrophe in Sanremo! - Two To Land Inside the Pages of Wonderland. A Special Duet...And The End Of The World, Will Begin Shortly?

/

Love the set of stories compiled into this arc's chapter! The Wonderland theme will not be as it seems for Ami and Ann who are trapped within the pages of a cursed tome.

Aggie-G is now expected by her staff to duel the two foxes with the power of song. She signed up to rule the world! Not sing to secure her plans any further!

Oh well...But what about our curious Vee and the foe he must now face? Who is this spectre that's pulled our mascot into another realm below the earth's known plates? Does Cici even notice a change, herself?

What secrets does Marcus still refuse to reveal even, when he's been knocked out by the tome Manifesto's orders?

What to do, what to do...We'll just continue with the story! That's all that one can expect when the time our heroes have, is slowly...running out! So stick around for Chapter eleven. Don't miss out on the exciting conclusion!

/

As if a paradise existed at the end of this somber tale's epilogue, one yet to have been written by a delusional warlock..

Anna Grayson squinted many times at a bright light shone downwards. Centered directly in front of her green and hazel coloured eyes, she opened her eyes with a small gasp...

All too soon as Anna attempted to gain back that precious breath of life, the seventeen year old red head had managed to come to her senses with one last inhale. Rubbing those tired, green eyes awake, Anna wished..for what she now witnessed, that head should have remained close to the ground.

 _"What...Where_ is this place!" The teen's head twisted around, craning all over to understand the chapter in which the teen had fallen by none other than.. Manifesto..Was this the power of his magic at work?

The realm was for the festival-goers of an older time. A palace of sunny days mixed together with a palette of unsavoury grey, seemed to be as a vision depicted within a dusty old painting. The hues were almost through a filter lense as the people dressed in morbid colours while looking happier than they should have by their appearances.

Anna felt all alone as Ami was no where to be seen. The elder teen had sensed the younger sibling's presence while falling head first inside the magical storybook's world. With her trail having gone cold now, Anna tried once more to put back together the pieces she had left scattered..

Now that our poor Annie Grayson had seen what was to be expected of her during her stay in wonderland, the girl's younger sun sister had to have not been far from reach. As if a picture from Grandpa Wayne's manor, the images were not of the present day. Not of any time as the gowns the women wore were uniform ...were all too similar...to those seen in a two-star rated occult drama..

The children about Ami's age ended their play right away as a large, drolling bell sounded from off in the distance. School. Ann felt her hope return by that ' bell of such realization.'

Anna picked herself up off the ground and out of her slump. ~Finally, I know where to find Ami.~ As the red head's plan wound round by the teen's gears slowly turning inside her skull, the girl walked on and used what she could to identify the dress code that the other children went by.

 _~Ok...Phoenix...Change_ me!~

Her body shrunk with a clap as the tween now looked back at herself in a rain puddle's reflection. Her hair was in tails, her age a few years from Ami's , though she doubted there would be a problem with her trademark frown. Her eyes in this world were green. She dulled them to turn brown in case any spies were on the lookout for hazel- eyed rebels. Her shoes were polished. While her skirt was plaid and dull. Her top was feminine and as always, living inside a dream of her sister's was a total nightmare!

"My sister is nobody's prisoner, _neither_ am I" Anna snorted and took to mimicking the other children as they walked into the halls of the nearby school building. A fortress that Ami could be inside of...

"I..am _not_ staying long." The tween reminded herself with a sharp exhale of the mission at hand currently "Ami, is coming home."

The precession was as if these..soldiers, were the school's students...

 _Heh._ Just to Anna's liking. It would as if she had never left Santigo's secret institute for Meta- beings. The girl's mary janes were black. Her plaid skirt was grey and white, off white by the atmosphere. The teen had pigtails- she counted again to find three bobbing around, like back in grade school behind her.

The girl's tie itched while it had a hold of the tween's throat like a boa constrictor. Later, she'd trash the scrap of fabric before it had the chance to transform into a real snake. This place had to be booby trapped..It looked like a prison for rich kids!

"Damian's school isn't this cocky I bet." Ann sniffed before materializing a school bag with what looked like HER belongings...

"Goin' back to class.." She huffed and started up the steps -

"Spiralling...escalators?"

Ann gasped and thought she was in the world of the " The Wayside Manor Children Detectives of Gloom and Doom Hollow, Vol 1." (Just hope this is a false title! Might have picked it by the fluidity alone! Fingers crossed!)

"I **have** to stop reading crime novels for my generation..." She groaned and looked up to the ce..il..iing..

 _"Holy_ trap doors, Batman!?" She exclaimed as none seemed to care what words the odd teen spoke. Maybe not thechildren, yet the staff of adults could be beasts from another dimension!

"A..lot of doors...which one?" She dashed up the steps as her feet were forced ahead by the shove of some busy- body student mob-

 _ **"Agh!"**_ The escalator ride had Anna keeping on her toes- she would reveal a dumb clich in such a ridiculous outfit if she toppled over! No!

"I...will not pan-

 _"Iiic!"_ Her eyes boggled as her lids were widened by a gust of wind. A door..no floor..she was in the air on a moving plat- frickin' form!?

 _"Craap!_ I have to get out of!-

"The stairs! **Yess!"** The earlier stairwell had returned as the red head gathered her feet to both leap up, it was a grab but Anna was an athlete. She could not be beaten by some bewitched staircase!

"Hah!..Whoa!-

Anna had the strip, she was close yet the revolving floor started up- she lost her grip and dared not look down..

 **"Aaaahhh!-**

 _"Ugh!"_ Anna had closed her eyes from falling but now...There was someone hanging onto her arm as she slowly opened them to gasp.

~How...who?~

"Huh? _Oh!_ A student! Nice to meet you!" The victim..the one with eyes that no longer shone blue as sapphires. It was Amelia Grayson with her heart as changed from within those pages as Ann's was wary.

Ami...

Ann was relieved , but she coud not buy the act so soon. "You, are ?" She pretended to be a stranger just to see if this was her sister in the flesh with a suspicious, raised brow to boot.

The ebony haired tween dragged her comrade up with a strong yank as the two toppled back onto the now, stilled platform. "You could have ended up trampled! Are you new to our school?" The ebony child asked with a tilt of her curious eyes to the side.

Ann felt as if the stepford wives had opposites in another universe..why would she know that!?

Anna bit her lip and rubbed her arm to think of a way to end this..or to fix her dilemma quickly...

"Uhmm...Yes, I...was enrolled by my parents and-

"Then fear not!" Ami bravely gave herself a shove off the cold ground - showing an outstretched arm of support her colleague ...just so Ann could stand beside the tween to deepen their trust- not if it was a trick though by the secret societies here!

She had seen what academy upperclassmen were like in the past!

With a great big welcoming smile, Ami had her full attention on the red head in her sights. The sight of her sister eased Anna's suspicions a bit. She smiled weakly and tried to act what was considered, natural of an introverted student.

Yuck!

"Welcome to Royal Le Blanc Academy- I am Amelia Borgges! -

"What?" Ann looked at her sister and gasped, then bit her lip harder to apologise. "Sorry!...That name..is Borgges an important family name around these parts?"

Ami nodded with much excitement from the question. "Actually, I am engaged to the future lord of the house , Sir Marcus Borgges! That is why I have to take his name soon to show my part...Marc is sooo nice once you get to know him!" Ami sighed as if she..was an evil double in love! Hearts and dancing frogs and all that jazz! Golly!

"Can...I might be able, to meet your...fiance...soon, if that would be better than talking about him!" Ann's words soon tumbled out as the place was definitely the reason why . Magic wasa bratty kid that pulled your hair until you said uncle..

"We could all be friends, I hope that's not too early of me ta' ask!-

 _~Ahh!_ ~ Anna screamed through the speak inside her mind. ~I sound JUST LIKE AMIIII!~

Amelia brought a set of fingers to her chin in deep thought. Sherlock was her favorite 'mock-time' character to use in scenarios! Ami!

"I could find out but first you have to get to know the school and our classmates!" Ami brought along more details, more damn rules! Was she a toady or a victim here!?

"Great..." Ann bit her cheek harshly to force out a 'pretty' nervous smile. "Would you be my tour giude if it's not any trouble?" She added.

Ami replied back with a cat's grin.

 _"Yata!_ Oh! Sorry..Don't know what came over me..hehe! I would be uber- honoured to show you the whole shebang here at Academy Blanc.!" She turned towards a wall that opened to reveal what Anna had been in search of - another way out?

"Class is gonna start, so you have to attend if you want to have my ear, kay?" Anna nodded as Ami 'bonzai'ed the elder girl to death with energy draining cheers of encouragement...ener..gy...

"I..must!-

The girl had run down one hall where the door to their firt class was bombarded with students in a line- single file yet as fast as a mound of ants to one hill. Anna was able to enter as she gripped Ami's gloved? She as a miss here?

"Ok class!" The bell, the seats!" Ann was forced to sit in one as it dug into her stomache with such wooden was this Academy'sname so..well, ugly? It sounded like the label of a bucket of white paint at had left whatever else had been this place...a totally morbid reality! Argh...So confusing! Borgges was notgetting away with this..that kid had hurt her for the last time!

"We will now introduce a brand new student-

The teacher was all' sunshine and happiness' from the news. Her students were the ones - except Amelia, who did not show any emotion..

"Great!-

Ami could speak but the students were grey creatures..maybe fake as Ami's captor must have created them in hopes of ensnaring the poor texan!

"Miss, Arumatsu Rouko from ..."

Ann had her head down, yet the glowering evil was right there. And..and her name translated to -

"A certain end...I am so dead...!" The red head had a feeling that Roko was the one behind a lot more than just playing lap dog. She also did not want another Lil or dragon breath around. Not to torment her sisters or brother ever again!

The name/term _'roko'_ meant Loco- not necessarily a locomotive...but craaa-zy!

Whimpering, would not save Ami. Ann wiped her nose and grit her jaw. Her sis had obviously been brainwashed by this Doctor Suess knock-off made by the mastermind tome called 'Manifesto. '

Who was he anyway!? Why did he have a voice yet still remain a total enigma?

"Is...oh! You can sit right next to Miss Amelia in the third row. "

Ami waved happily as her outgoing self had no clue that her enemy had done this! Ann raised her own hand right away to shoot up and ask;

"Umm ! Teacher! I have an empty seat here if that's ok !?" A few snickers had Ann feel as if she were the hot head back in middle school again.

Her ego really took a beating from that one..

"Yes, Miss -

"Huh?" Ann looked at the teacher's lips...no words...silent! That meant that only Ami's name had been stolen...but then?

"Miss, Anna? Rouko will be under your wing until the end of this week. Thank you again for honing your efforts so productively! Your father -

~She's not going to touch that history lesson.~ Anna smirked.

~Just call me Miss again and we can start class, Miss oblivious.~

Anna looked up at Rouko who smiled back as if nothing had happened.

Once she had made her way over to Ann's side of the room however, the 'speak' rang loud and clear throughout the red head's subconscious.

~You are bold, but I won't let you leave without losing something you cherish...say...your firey energy? Ami has to keep her magic- that is Borgges's desire...Yet _you~_ She purred with a smirk.

~You...are a bird that lives again..and again...all to burst into flames yet never depart from this world in one piece...~ The sneaky brat had Ann gulp back a moment to contain her fears...

Roko..was a demon! And she was not going to anyone's power be stolen by a monster tonight.

 _"Iaminyourcare!_ " The dark haired teen bowed as her custom allowed. "Thank you _very_ much for your support!"

The class seemed ok with this habit but Anna, knew that 'Akane' had not come to reinact the role of villain- she had come here to remain the only master of chaos. Disorder was in her blood and history, and Ann had to stop the demoness...but how was she going to save Ami from the red- eyed evil in her class?!

"Let's turn our books to -

"Me, you." Anna hissed back to the blinking and innocent transfer student. "Where shall I find you then?" The ghastsly daemon whispered to her enemy from her newly assigned seat.

"How about...The gym." Anna licked her lips and suggested.

"I work better on the field surrounded by weapons of my choice..but you can figure it out once we clear the room of any visitors. Sound fine to you?" Unfortunately for Anna, to lure in the demoness, she had to top that darkness in her voice to have Akane curious enough to accept on Anna's terms..

A Grayson going rogue...It was just crazy talk!

"I like your attitude. Maybe Amy dear does trust you, but what's there to see is but a mask...Sure! _Saaay,_ four after the students have gone home?-

"But...this isn't some prep school? What about!-

"In my world, this place is dead and gone whenever a bell rings." Ann turned white as the smirking devil had her cuffed. "Ami, won't be your toy to flunk out!" She snipped while continuing to whisper before turning to see Ami glaring back at the two ornery students.

"Work!" She lip sinc'ed over to the pair. "Do your work.."

Akane did not stare into the girl's eyes as the dragon of her past relations would have done the girl in easily in order to tempt his enemies to fall... Ann was not about to let that happen, even if the king was a buried relic in the past. Roko still kind of...l...lov...ugh! Why were villains so weird with who they crushed on!?

"Homework will brand me a failure." The dark haired demoness sighed and took up her pen without much protest, save for a low whine in her voice.

"Well, I am not a bad student either..So back off if you know what's good for you!" Anna whispered, or rather hissed the threat as Akane shook her head. Oh, she could not call THAT a threat from a fire- guardian..

~A _lesson_ for you, soldier girl. ~ Rouko said through the speak as Anna tried to ignore the tease from her all-time enemy.

~An enemy can pick you apart to find any weakness. Don't show your true intentions around here, or you will not be able to leave...this world is not what I desire, but for only HE. If you try to change who you are, you will be permanantly given the role expected of you and without question. ~

~I'm going to take Ami and destroy that tome with my own will power.. You think a ' beware all ye who enter ' plan will scare me into trusting you!?~ The red headed girl dragged her pencil across a sheet of scratch paper until it had started to rrip*.

She hated surprise tests...

~No, but you are too smart to not realize that Ami cannot take off her's. ~ Akane dropped her eraser down onto the floor by teen's the desk. As Anna froze and almost dropped her no.2 pencil, the two bumped faces to continue their conversation.

~Ami..has always been...-

~Your _'Ami'_ here, is as fake as these students. ~ Akane returned to her seat and used the eraser to fix her paper's , written last answer . The bubble sheet was littered temporarily with bits of rubber as the red head could only continue with a scowl with her own lack of trust in the 'system.'

~No...But...Am..Ami ! You are going down after **THAT** bell gives me a reason to take action! Shut up so I can prove you wrong- _Monster!~_

Anna's brainpower increased as she continued to write once Akane's mind games had already done their very worst to shake the tween's ego.

Rouko here, was a bit too alike to the counterpart of a certain sorceress..Yet that was not a false jab at the girl sitting beside the dark haired dopple.

The demoness chuckled snd set down her now finished paper.

~Anyone who wears their mask, is given that role permanantly, and without question..~

The red eyed student smiled as her hair left the others unable to read her true emotions while draped over her one unwaivering eye..

As the time ticked away until the two's big brawl, Akane anticipated this turn of events openly. She wanted to watch the collapse of both mind and spirit in her down time..

~So then, young soldier? ~ Rouko wondered to herself as the students around her fiddled with numerous 'problems.'. Akane still held her pencil like a miniature baton between her fingertips as it twisted about in her grasp. She seductively asked the finsl question just as the bell was about to ring.

~What mask do **_YOU_** want to have hidden from this world?~

/

"Who _are_ they!?" Diba sensation, Aggie -G was having a crisis of her own. A four foot nine one with crystal blue eyes!

"Calm down, this is a pair from -

"I..have at least some 'idea' Mariella..I do read and watch plenty of media hedlines on my off-days! Today, is definitely one of those days! _But..argh!They..they!-_

"The man 'above' us wanted those two to **perform!"** The M.C whined as if his pretty starlette did not fully grasp the sevarity of her staff's own issues. Stars grew bored !But... Worst of all, they hated anyone who tried to steal their fans away...

"Sweetie, Aggie, you have to let Amber and Clemont -

"I _don't_ think they are serious enough !-

 **"Agh!** _Out! Out!"_ The M.C made Mariella wince by the anxious man's squeaking voice.

He now, calmly wiped the sweat rom his achng brow to finish. Seeing as no one ha left the room... "Ok..then how about...you do yourself a big favor and perform...so that we can quit delaying the event! It has been more than a day since you decided to drop the microphone in a huff! Those two , Ron and -

"They are old friends but...but I refuse to let amateuers play on THAT _STAGE!"_ Aggie 'pouted' at her age and no one was one to protest. This M.C was about to end up broke and alone by Agatha's hex - if he even so much as reprimanded the girl like she was some..some...second - grade child star!

"The fans and the 'man' in my face said to just figure this out or the show is caput!" The M.C was fuming as red as a lobster. In his next life, he could swim with the fishes as a thanks for the memories of him shouting like an angry ape-king!

"If you go on tonight." Mariella added with her clip board no longer her shield against the M.C's whining.

"Then your fan base might grow- we could sell more merchandise and the news would be broadcast to every corner of the country...You would go!-

"I would have to exert my energy to mask _THEIR_ incompetance-

"In _Portugal."_ Cliff as 'Clemont' interrupted. "We are more than what you would call, beginners."

He did the smartest thing he could and picked up the mic ( that Ron had been clinging to for just this perfect moment. )

~Amber!? You know this _one!"_ He started a beat as the song was something that had Aggie chilled to the bone by HER trickery!

A nereid, a bloody siren's kid was going to bring this witch to justice?! _Hah!_ Laughable even to she!

/

Amber started with the lights down ow, a dreamy, sorrowful expression on her face that made it impossible to look away. Her voice was crystal as her starry eyes of an immortal's child. With a pitch that could bring the skies to part, she started with a beat you could only hear from artists like 'Clear - Thief ' (Clean bandit ) and Enrico ,Enrique Iglesias (typo but this is too fun to stop!)

[Amber] ~I lived once a double life...Singing to the love I'll never see. The ocean - if ever I cross to find him there...his eyes, silently staring back at mee- _e...Oh_ , how the waters were so very strong, as they pulled me to the side...

(Chorus) Why, why? _Oh, why_ oh _why!_

[Amber] "Why does this current, house all my fears...Still, if I stay far away from your shore...What other hope again, will I find..."

[Amber] "That bridge across, broken...And our answers left unspoke- _ee-ehn!_ "

[Clemont] "So raise your eyes and don't turn away _-aye-aayy,_ anymore!

[Chorus and Amber in background] "No **no!"**

Cliff was an excellent duet singer with his sibling more than a muse by her ability to pull in an audience.

[Clemont]"We will find another way...So please, baby..don't you cry those tears...You and I aren't far apart...so please, just dry your eyes.."

[Clemont] And don't you worry, love, because...I would never, break your heart-

[Clemont andchorus] "Ah- no- no- **oh!"**

[Clemont but Amber in background vocals ] "You are, so _huurt_ from this!-

A beat sounded both exotic and intense as the synthetic sounds mixed together with guitars and steely drums to create another realm of sound...

[Clemont] "We left those letters, soaked by the sun..." The guitar was romantic as it played to convey the artist's passionate letters left unread. Amber blushed to hit the M.C hard where she knew he would find her an artist and actress in one shot .

[Amber] "Those rain showers would always cheer you up...And as..I fled out into the night..." the guitar again was mellow, the distance between them was there. A pining set of wings that had the power to take away what love was there...The rain was a way to try this , to escape without anyone to say that they could not be together ( As actors! Not that...ish..love! That is not sibling - ich! It's the duo trying to get a spot on the stage to stop Aggie- by any means !)

[Amber] "And no one dared to follow me! _Ah-Ah...No_ no **_no!-_**

[Amber and Clemont] "It was a magic love story...As we _daanced_ into the sun! "

[Amber] "The rain against us, as we kissed.. Our hearts were then, beating as one!.."

Chorus and guitar ...

[Amber] "With no way to escape this bliss.."

[Clemont] "Your hand was to my face, your fingers tangled with mine...We lived, just like we had hoped - would _be..some..day-ayy-_

[Chorus and Clemont] "Day- _Aay-_ ea- _aye!_ **Oh!** "

[Amber and Clemont] "We lived, just like lovers by the _water!...-_

Chorus , festive but somber music played from a land that resembled the duo's true home.

[Clemont] "In that night..we were _soo_ passionate, for one another- er!

[Clemont]" You were crying..!-

[Amber and Clemont] "Now, hold out your hand, as I reach for you..."

[Clemont] "Please, give me a sign! If you still want me close...And all of your best interests I keep...So then, please, where can I start? Where can I start- Oh, oh, no no _No!"_

"Hold on and heed...my love...this very special feeling...[Music slowing , Amber singing , Clemont with acoustic guitar in background.]

[Amber] "Hold on, and heed the river's _flow...oh-ooh..oho-oh.."_ The duet's soft words became softer as the drums stilled, precussions (typo) were left out as the song neared its finale.

"Because it still runs deep for you...within my, aching _heaart..."_

[Clemont and Amber last part] "So tell me again, when can we _staart?.."_

The despair in Esme's voice was a late croak..as if she had lost the dreamy lover because of that shattered bridge over the watery shore...

Aggie was speechless.

Mariella was bawling as the siren knew how to trick humans to tears .

The M.C was clapping with his nose running by the sheer passion of their two voices together as a single dynamic duo.

And Ron and Vespa knew that they too had to up their game in order to put the ex-sorceress behind bars once more.

~Aria had an idea when she put you two up to coming out of hiding.~ Ron used the speak to directly converse with his family from under Agatha's snobbish nose.

~Si, and we cannot wait to show her _'highness'_ what real art is- the connection I sense from her is all just of vanity and nothing special with the music she calls her's. She cannot out perform our dear Esme, Ronaldo! The daughter of a royal line of Siren that is generations old?. No kidding! But Ron, watch out for your compadre -eh...ess if you _know_ what I mean.~

Cliff used his pinky finger to direct Ronald's attention towards...

~Vespa? Clifford? What gives? Is this just a joke?-

~No, I know that for a fact, she is a spy for some rather, sinister council- folk. Aria told us enough to warn you. If she sings, her power can wipe us all out...Only if someone tells her to take the traitor Agatha away by force.~

Ron looked to Vespa in her wild gettup and was at a loss. She..had been holding back...All this time, and with her real underworld bosses! She was still as crooked as they came!

~Wait...Then Aria is your-

 **~She** arranged this trip to get us to use our abilities, to help out your charges .~ Cliff replied with the other dog feeling a blow to the gut...then who was an ally? One that could have their free will ...but, heck! He wasn't either...

~Did you sense that just now!?~

Cliff sniffed the air by his cousin's remark. ~It smells like we had someone steering our conversation...Looks also, hermano, like no ' Speak ' for a few hours. _Sigh*...If_ it was just a lackey of Manifesto that made it after our scent, I would be extra careful tonight during the priestess's concert.~

Ron nodded inwardly before turning to meet back with Vespa. She looked , glad to see him...as that was her face to show for tonight...

Well, Sayu had her sons doing the vixen's dirty work- so what was in it for the 'reincarnated duo' of Baccus (typo) and Aphrodite?

/

The Titans were forced to wait for the call- one that would have them set for life with front row seat as an added 'thanks'. Their benefactor was Vespa as well as a rather...'too quiet for his own good' Ronald. So? What had the team missed? Aside from discovering that the Sanremo festival did **NOT** actually involve side show attractions as Gar had thought it to have ( he was wrong of course,) Kori had run off to select a spot where the group could eat and then be invited inside the main entrance's golden gates.

"Why did you say we had to stay outside for this?"

As Dami had also not expected to do much research on the events that followed, he too had succumbed to the gripping embarressment (typo..) of having been wrong - He? A brain child with an IQ bigger than Bruce Wayne's? What were the odds in one night not going to the dogs!

"I asked Vespa to send her location out, but...Seems like she just wants us to be patient." Dick Grayson looked out and around the spot where the team's stomachs continued to growl . "Ciao...Chow!" Gar was tired of walking...walking without enough to quell his hunger for good.

Rachel Roth had anticipated this of her old friend's bad habits and took out a 'proto-snackums nutrition bar ' from her carry-on bag to remedy what she could of her ally's angst. A small back pack that held so much more, though Raven had to keep a low profile always. Raven, the very one and the same, did not carry purses- Never as a Titan, and not as a stand by heroine either in today's world.

"Here." She shoved the bar into her glutonous friend's face. "I don't want the Tiger- Gar in you to eat the team instead. " It was both funny but also in poor taste. Raven's humor was both sarcastic and filled with grim or dry wit. Her friends knew that the empath preffered her tastes as plainly as possible. Seeing the sights here would be a dream away as their mission was to be carried out above all else.

"So Rae?" Cy asked as he looked to see if his arm had been directly contacted yet( being a walking wireless had its drawbacks at times.)

"Try again later." Dick chuckled by Raven's joke , he knew what she had meant was only to lighten the...

"Rachel?" Richard turned to her then back to his dearest Kori. "Ummm, sorry but...Are your selves n-

"I'm fine, what about you though?" She smirked and THAT had Dick bring himself to confront her - Raven was!-

"I should have...You aren't Raven at all!" He pointed to the culprit as if the words would turn her back into the monotone figure that had brought partly, the Titans Tower into being.

"Don't look so sour, I am but..at the same time...You should watch your back-

"Uhh uh! " Cy brought out his arm and was ready to break the street with his sonic cannon . Raven was an imposter?

"You _guys!"_ Gar had believed this all a bit off, but his stomach seemed to respond-

"The protein bar! Confiscate it!" Kori rushed over as her ally knelt in pain over the sidewalk. His whiskers...the tiger!?

"Oh...just a bit of magic my partner warmly entrusted with the queen of all cats! Big and small! So, change for us! Tiger - child!"

The worst took effect as the 'magic' soon died off to reveal Lao Ming , surrounded by shadowy beasts there to tend to her every need.

As multiple crowds around became aware that an enemy was now local and mobile in the area, they immediately started to scramble, tremble and scream along for dear life. Gar had lost his focus due to the drugged as it was, nutrition bar. Raven must have been taken out for this...! This, was an impossible turn of events!

"We can fight you right here, cat girl!" The ex leader knew tat Dami would have had a fit with his brother, but heck! Lao Ming's armor was golden and impenetrable ( typo) as hard, cold titanium !

"Go ahead and _try!"_ She goaded with a laugh. "Your friend is now under **my** power! If you try , you'll end up skewered by the backlash of his tainted claws!" Her eyes narrowed onto the Titan's ex leader. Of course she had to make it live or die trying! That was the fun of a cruel gamble.

Dick turned to Cy and Kori before bringing out his cleverly hidden bo staff.

"Missed this for a _loong_ time, whiskers!"

He sounded like Verra by the long 'overdue' quips. Richard dashed in front of one of Lao Ming's cat demons. He bashed at its skull before the thing turned to mist - Unfortunately, ghouls were not easy targets to lay ' said hit ' onto.

"These are the forms of vengeful Tenkit warriors! " The brunette kitty cackled and pointed at the protruding claws of her minions coming right for..-

"Kori! Get out of!-

"Cy !"

The two were not as lucky as the same fate must have taken Raven ..no..no! The rest could not end too soon!

 **~AZARATH** _METRION ZINTHOSSS! ASTERION **MORTRIX!~**_

Her voice, her power radiated across the street..Clothed in white and looking more than fed up with monsters in back alleys-

"Drop the act, cat!" Raven was lit with magic that stopped the heroes' time. The crowded city view was as a still frame. The cat and she could duke it out just fine...No one hurt a Titan or civilian on Rachel's watch.

"Wow! " The kitten looked the Titan heroine up and down , thoroughly impressed by the demon woman's powers.

"Why are you fighting it!?" Lao Ming snipped to the empath. Raven was impatient enough to bring gravity to a screaming, screeching halt. She had standards, but the cat wasn't sane right now. Her eyes housed the symbols of another's influence. The eerie look that Lao Ming had given Rachel Roth just then had the empathetic Titan revert to an offense- position.

"We are going to cloud the minds of those whom desire!" The cat grinned with her claws readying to fight back.

"Azarath!-

"Nuh _uh!"_ The cat was a trickster as she flipped over to Dick Grayson , his eyes frozen in time with the empath's teammates powerless against their newest foe.

"I can pick his brain a bit? He once helped in reviving the red -

"He is **_gone!_** No one can return him to power ever again." Raven knew that the cat had no common sense while under another's control..who? Who had turned the TenKit miss into a real lackey?

"Says _you..And_ the doggies...Those **cats** in heaven or in the underworld ? I saw that side...the spirit world was a waste of _MY_ potential! " The smirking idiot cat- gal had now moved over to pet the obedient tiger Gar Logan. Raven's eyes were weary as her mental clarity started to wane by this cat's unecessary actions.

"We could make this easy...But my pets want revenge in the ugliest way possible!" Lao Ming sounded thrilled by the idea of toppled buildings and wreaked highway systems. Classic-

 _~Wait...That_ was what Hecate was **trying** to warn us about!~

 _"Oops!"_ The girl let go of Gar's scruffy neck as the big cat sauntered closer to meet Raven, dangerously close and drolling like a sick beast. He was, was controlled by HER crappy candy!

Lao Ming grinned before moving towards a third member of the Titan's group of adults.

"Up an' attem , soldier!" The cat reanimated Cyborg as he was soon placed under a similar hex as Gar had been. Now, both men were acting as their counter selves. Cy as a robotic killer, and Changeling...as a beast...

Raven used her powers to place up a shield then sent it flying to hit one of Lao Ming's goons. The cat laughed in her cutest , ugliest to Raven, way possible. "Heheheheee! You are too weak alone to face them! To face ME!" She growled and snapped alive her legs moving as a cheetah's on the plains.

 _ **"Raaawrrh!"**_ The cat girl had a curved sword that was much sharper in comparison to Aiden's Blade of the Golden Dragon.

"Face **_metal!_** " She swung the item as Raven had no choice but to collect Dick and Kori before they were also left to take Lao Ming's abuse.

Levitating then vanishing through the field of time in the present, Raven made it through a small portal before Ming. Her friends would never meet with their kids again if time stood this still!

"Here , witch - bait! " Ming snrled as her lackyes sniffed low the ground. Ct,y was scanning with his other vision, heat and radar...he coupe be a real villain sometimes if you flipped his switch..

Raven had her two teammates remaining turn invisible by a spell Greg had taught her ( back when Alicia had still been among the living.)

~Cloak, turn to drive their sights elsewhere!~ Not really the average latin spellcasting , but it required less effort than a mantra.

Lao Ming sniffed about as soon as the cwt had turned that same corner. By the back of a local Bistro...hmm..

~Don't look in the crates...Just get _out_ of here!~

"Urrgh...Mistress? In the other direction?...Urgh..." Cy had something to add, thankfully - as Ming took his word and left the backstreet alley with a huff. "Search the city." She was only deterred for now...

"Look on over rooftops- check into the cafes around here! The venue where Miss Agatha is playing- I don't care! Search until you hunt them down!" Her eyes were now alit with malice as Raven discovered something..those eyes...

~She's not being controlled, but over - shadowed...~ The truth was out and that demon behind the mad- cat's stare was evidently vicious. (typo)

~Spell...break apart the time wall.." Raven felt time come together, back to reality as she gasped in a gulp of city air.

/

"R..Rae?" Dick squinted as if he had been blocking his eyes from an attacker. He had, but Raven could talk about that later.

"Nightwing, you have to change-

"His uniform is on, he is fully clothed." Kori stated as the male in their cluster unzipped his jacket to show a blue emblem from underneath the tourist guise. "Always on track." Dick smiled as Kori silently chuckled by the old hero she had loved for so long. He would be hard to top, besides Raven being at her full power.

"We have to sneak into the venue." The empath realised that Vespa was in this as well if Lao Ming was keeping her whiskers twitching 'every which way. '

"Then fine by me. Hope you don't mind a little excitement on our vacation, Star?"

The red head blushed and seemed amused , while they talked together so calmly inside a crate outside the local bistro.

"Looks to me, like this won't be a first-

"Raven?" Starfire interrupted her lover to break the mood a bit. Not in this place...it was far from a romantic gettaway.

"Well, we have to use the back entrance...Though if one of our units can contact Vespa-

"Then, maybe not..." Dick had pulled out his cell and to their shock, Diva after dog was listed by starving fans' complaints on web chat rooms.. .Sanremo, had just gotten a lot more pumped for the show of the century.

"Ronald!? And Esme and Cliff too!?" Kori gasped as her eyes would have popped from their perfect sockets.

"And the star, Aggie- G is their partner...rather, how did Esme and Cliff have the time to -

"Aria." Raven frowned and knew that the siren was purposely trying to put Aggie back in her place. "She knew about the show and had them play. " Dick nodded. "It just seems far too easy for the Elemental hounds to have the ability bend the laws of time and space..." Kori wondered if that was not all that the guardians were capable of.

"So, we rule out meeting up...Then we'll be visiting like the rest-

"As long as Lao Ming is hunting every inch of the city for us." Raven added. "If that's the case, then going backstage would at least leave us an option in protecting the audience. "

"True, friend Rachel. We, are not from Italy . Though Miss Vespa is.." Kori thought. Dick agreed and knew protecting their hides was not first and foremost. Even in Sanremo, this was a place to keep from the harm of the villain Manifesto and his drones.

"So, should we see what a certain 'pooch' is willing to provide?" The ebony haired ex- leader asked his companions with a smirk. What..was the former Robin planning now?  
"I do not follow." Kori shook her head. Richard understood why, he had not finished explaining after all.

"Easy, we get into contact with the only guardian Ally that won't bark us down..um...Let us, sorry...Without Changeling here I had to at least try-

"Who is it you propose we contact directly?" Kori was sure this idea had pros and cons. The guardians were as easily able to say no as a President was to veto a very important bill ...But with the council divided...

"What about...Aha!"

Raven saw that look and had to worry. Was he effected by Manifesto's hex too?

"No, I think there is another here in Italy- even if we hate to admit it...-

"Kayumon was with Verra!" Raven gasped by how that had passed way over their heads . "Yup, and he is so out of place about now. If a guardian stays on Earth for too long in his position, then things do get kinda hairy-

"No more puns now _pleaasase!"_ Kori frowned by the lack of tact, yet also it was becoming problematic for her ears to handle. Changeling was better for 'the laughs' than her husband...Too much like the Batman to make straight faced ' cracks of wisdom..' (Wise cracks.)

"Ok, then we make it happen...Rae!" Dick turned to his ally as her body was unble to function normally inside the dark crate. "Y-yes?" She was off guard as he popped that one question while Kori crossed her fingers twice.

"How far can your telepathy travel?"

,/

As the stage was being swept clear for the next line up, the crowds in Sanremo could not compare to the killer dismay of our heroes coming to the city by way of a wide vortex. Only they were not stopping, a non- stop crash land was in our heroes' futures as of right that instant...

 _~Haah!"_ Aiden let loose his fire eventually. Without Anna, Ami, or Ava to have it under lock and key, the seventeen going on eighteen year old decided to risk a free fall to land right in...

 ** _"AAAGH!"_** Zan attacked as the spinning cluster of angry moths did Charl's bidding while he fought mano e mano with Aiden Grayson. Charl himself had been an astral projection- thus he had been forced to return in his weakeat state to the realm of earth. Though his moths still were persitant.

Henry was waking up, but the venom still had his limbs like rubber. It had turned out to be a non- letgal dose. Amelia had probably reserved only the finest toxic bath for a certain guardian or two. Henry, last she'd checked was no such character. Just a student fan- boy of Wiz Gregory.

 **"Aaalllllmooosttt!"** Aiden flung clusters back as his power burned up as a comet in the atmosphere.

"HOOLLLD **_OOONNN!"_** Zan and Dami clung to one another as the newest Robin was close to passing out from the fight. Henry was still by Glen , and Aiden had his own demons to drive back- back as the portal had opened to leave them all skydiving down, down into -

"Here we _aaareee!"_ The city of Tokyo!" It was the right place!

~Avaa!" Aiden forced his telepathic connection to work overtime. "WE JUST MADE IT! LOOK **_OUT!"_**

 ** _/_**

Ava's turn had not yet come. The steely door's lock was kept a secret . The combination one that only Vee himself knew by heart. While Ava had less than an idea that Ayane was inside duking it out- she did however know of another way to gain entry. A re,isky way that coud leave both shed and Chris drained completely for hours.

Christopher paced and tried to think of the beast of burden his powers could free. The new form that resembled Hati was something that the silver haired knight would have preferred a last resort option But Ava was truting him. He turned to her as her eyes shone with a gleam that signified tears yet to fall from those amethyst eyes. "No!" She protested with a stumble towards her old schoolmate. "You'd be left to remain scattered...I won't ever find you if..."

"Ava...I am your knight first and foremost...I am not your...friend from class like before.." The teen lowered his head and frowned. Ava did not buy it. Any moment...

"No..you are and if you end up leaving this place you'll leave your princess unguarded! Don't be a knight unless you are willing to follow through! I won't let you use up all of your magic- I will add to it so that you can remain by my side!"

She declared this though had to have her so- called body guard on the same page. He looked to the door that would not allow them to pass through its walls. With a shrug, Chris relented. He cared for Ava too much to make her miserable. He had wanted to stay by her side forever.

"Then I will use your wolf in astral form to have it open a path for us-

"But !-

"No, I have made up my mind." Ava did not bother listening to 'this novice' spout nonesense regarding heroisms and chivaillry( typo I do well know that!) "If you break your promise." She responded and looked over her shoulder cooly. "Then you have to return to me in the form of my next household pet- A cat maybe.."

"Dear me..Why did I think you were going to be any less like the Ava HE knew?" Chris chuckled and noted that the old Christopher Jean had in fact changed. Just as Ava would soon grow as cold as her forbidden world..

"Hop to it!"

"Right then, Highness."

Chris took in a gulp of air before casting his transformtion spell. ~The shadow of the sun and moon...The god of demise and life born anew...~

His face was soon swallowed by a set of astral jaws that had Ava jump back by the grim representation. ~Devourer of light and darkness...To Wodin's will and to that of Lady Hel...~

The wolf picked Chris up into its intangible jaws before a beam of light that seamed unworldly evaporated, popping like a watery bubble. Hati, the deity as Chris had made his own, emerged.

~Lady Ava, I am at your service. ~

Hati was the deity that chased Manu, the moon deity across the stars in a turning of the alignment - a way to document scientific marvels in those days was through more than simply Sagas. Ava had been thought to have been this Manu,and poor Aiden her counter part Sol. Hati in the previous arc had left Ava's world a spook without a purpose..

Until Chris was found to have tamed the beast to have gained its body as his second upon his return. It was a weapon against the unseen forces that could ensnare Ava as Lord Loki's son Hati had. Never again, the enemy was Chris's pelt. He could wear it without fearing for his life or Ava Marie Grayson's again.

~Then I shall open this door by my power...Stand back!~ Chris as 'Hati the astral wolf' used his magic to turn the locks gears ahead. The world remained stable, though the key code, finally came to burst in a fit of sparks in moments.

"I fear for the future." Ava huffed as her feet moved towards the door again to pry it down. "Yes, and it will be a long while before Earth succumbs to its fate." Chris revert to his form as the burst of light freed the grey haired boy from his shackled life.

"Let's be quick. Uncle Shoji left Ayane in charge as always. " Ava replied to her comrade, quietly.

"Right behind you, as always." Chris smiled back as Ava led them down the path to the first floor elevator.

The demoness apect Roko herself was nowhere in sight, just for the moment anyway.

She had left her new haunt with Marcus as the perfect bait for a greater fall to occur. Ayane was tightly bound by magicbinds with her two compsanions as the drone version of Borgges had been hexed to finish the work he'd set out to accomplish. Not a coma. No,he was possessed since awakening to the events previously set during his collapse.

~My partners are eager to start...~ Marcus now spoke the language of the 'speak' as easily as breathing due to that burst from Manifesto's curse. ~I have the power to both create AND destroy those who would dare tostand in my way!~

As Ayane remained with Kaede and Isa, the rest of their team had either dispersed or been locked outside while Manifesto's servant handled the rest .

~Manifesto is I...I _am_ Manifesto!~ The silver haired brat said this more than once while Ayane looked to Isa for any way out of their predicament. Isa was still recovering from using up so much magical art of her own power as Lady Isis.

 _~Delusion..~Kaede_ mind spoke finally, not caring if Marcus intercepted them by her show of disrespect. He didn't seem to care or hear, so the younger kitsune continued to discuss her thoughts with her two allies.

~Just as the deity Hecate swore...Yet Amaterasu-hime is alive! I could have my powers back-

~You would risk everything if we were found out by such foolish plans, not by the jaws of a _traitorous_ fox.~ Isa snipped, as her deep session of meditation had been interrupted only now?..

~Ayane could contact Aria.~ The fox woman frowned and tried to think on Isis's level a bit. ~That way it would be safer for us and for also the council to be-

 **~They** are the _worst_ of all!-

~No more fighting one another!~ Ayane shouted over the two Immortals. ~Please, I am sure that contacting Aria would be wise, yet what if that is not the case?~

~Aria is connected as an informant for many Celestial and Eternal allies, including her role under the council's law.~ Isis said in disagreement with Kaede , though not necessarily Ayane.

~Yes, but..Amaterasu-hime was no longer without her light!~ The fox interjected.

Isis scoffed by the daemon's lack of understanding for her own mistress.

 _~Hah!_ That goddess is not fully herself. And thanks to your timing, we almost had her obliterated by Akane's sneak attack!~

 ** _~Ladies!~_** Ayane tried again to quell the deity and Kitsune's tempers. ~ Please just _remain calm._ If I -

~The boy is bound to become all powerful if we do not act this second! He would gladly pull us inside of his maddened mind...And that is why we cannot remain here!~ Isis bit her lip and thought even harder about how they could escape without being spotted.

~I..too fear for Japan and the world you hold so dear-

~Then go along and leave the Sun- children to their misery...~ Isis cut off Kaede, even when she had been trying to apologize in her own way. And lo! Isis was worried. For the Phoenix's soldiers, for Ava and her ally...The Titans of Earth were scattered!

~No, we are not going to leave anyone behin-

A whipping wind cut down the door to Shoji's lab without allowing poor Ayane to compose herself. ~What!? What magic was !-

~The child of the Barrens has come!~ Isis smiled as if it could only have been the greatest visit from a former friend.

 _~Hah!_ Over there!~ Kaede spotted the two - a wolf in particular caught Isa's interest most of all.

~Ava! Manifesto is!-

~Congratulations for creating such turmoil upon your arrival- snow wench!~ Marcus's eyes brightened as if Manifesto's influence had let the boy go. It had as the book in the frail teen's hands started to course with malignent energies.

~Manifesto...Where is he!?~ Chris in Hati's form had revert earlier down the tunnels, (though Isa could see its spirit alongside the grey haired child's path as they had come loudly through those busted doors.)

~My book does not speak.~ Marcus answered with a grin. ~It is my catalyst! I can destroy you any time that I wish!~

~Auntie Sakurano!~ Ava gasped as the boy's encompassed wrtist stretched out to meet Ayane's throat. His darkart was a vine that caused the vice prresident of Takahara Corp to gasp for air.

~They were here to discover my plans...Yet, no matter!~ Matlrcus raised the book up above his head as he recited a hex to end all of his enemies in the room, the uninvited ones couldn't know how to break the curse. Ayane was freed as the kidwould need both arms to finish the spell.

~Stop that _casting!~_ Kaede shouted over now dozens of growling, howling apparitions that had been summoned into the room by the tome's dark revival.

~Vastness of the northern lights! ~ Ava blasted the demons by setting up a barrier to keep the monsters contained.

 **~Chris!** _Free_ the others!~

As the princess's words reached the teen's ears, he took to doing just as she had instructed, without fail. He was her shining knight above the rest- Aiden had never gained the title as he now new more about Ava than her ow-

 **"ageghh!"** Hati's form became weaker as Ava realized just what had happened. Miasma and that tome's influence! He was growing stronger by even jealous emotions...Chris?

 _~A...va...~_ The daemon form called out in a low croak. Ava shook her head and back away, disturbed by the mage of her ally in distress.

~ You...promised...this was for my sake! **Why!-**

 **~Stop!~** Isa shouted to warn the girl. Ava gasped and blinked herself awake as Chris as Hati still stood...It was a delusion..he was ok..~ His negative influence will consume you if you dare to fall to pieces! Fight the control!~ Isa shouted again.

Ava saw this energy as it had already take Marcus. Yet she wanted to save Chris. She ha...No, no he could fight on...as her knight!

 **~Chris!** ~ Ava called out to her companion. He wagged his tail as if all eyes were on him, her eyes..

~Y-Yes malady Ava!? Princess!-

~Defeat Manifesto and then we can leave together! All of us from this silly delusion!~

~M...my...oh?..?~

Ayane gasped by what spell had been woven around Chris already. ~Borgges is getting stronger! ~She tried to shield her eyes from the might of the other boy's evil energy.

 _~Chris!~_ Ava did again call out in vain, yet he still listened.

~Defeat Manifesto at all costs! But do _not_ destroy that tome-

 ** _~Noo!~_** Kaede shouted . ~ Your siblings are inside those pages! The magic has wiped that from your memory? Do not attack it yet with that hound's inability to read your words!~

~Ok, Chris! Disarm Borrges _'whom is' HOLDING_ THE BOOK!~ The spell was complete as Chris in Hati's form only listened to Ava's words.

Ava, Ava...His princess!

The plan raised suspicion as this action not yet taken spread to the Marcus's ears and to the tome. Manifesto's book contacted the group by the speak with a booming, ominous laugh.

 _~Hahahaaa!_ The wolf is love sick!? My _puppet!_ Create a web in which none can hope to escape! Entangle those children permanently within my pages!~

Chris's ears drooped in that form as he knew to step away. This was an ugly battle. The book seemed to be in command..or the boy..who? who!?

He howled as Ava ran over to console her friend from his headache. It had not been the right time...No..something was wrong here!

 _ **~Ingrate!~**_ Sniffed the silver haired brat. Manifesto only seemed to take this as an insult of course. Its fire was bubbling up as a cauldron.

Marcus would soon meet the fate of others who had tried to take the reigns too early. A ghost was what Marcus was in truth. Yet Manifesto's curse keept the child grounded, almost mortal and easy to manipulate .

Marcus smirked to his tome relic, then grinned openly to the heroes he had single handedly captured.

~ I am running the show!~ Marcus cried aloud with such gusto, beaming proudly as the earlier apparitions took shape again and edged closer towards the deity and allies.

~Listen to **ME** **i** nstead!~

A blast of lightening made the groups look up in surprise. He could use the powers of the elements!

~There! Now please go back to sleep, _book!_ I have many guests to entertain before they **die!~**

~That power is _not_ your strength, **nor** your curse to bare!~ Manifesto had had enough. It burst into a set of sparks as Marcus dropped the rebelling tome from his scorched fingertips.

Seething through clenched jaws while holding his wrist back in shock, the boy was willing to bury the evidence right here and now through his teary eyed, hazy vision. This was a disaster! He glared almost fearfully though at the book that was now sprawled on the ground beside him with its pages still intact.

 _ **~Traitor!**_ You will not be spared! I am a **god** now!~ The boy barked, as he continued to insult the evil tome that lay at his feet. Marcus believed it to be used to the abuse by now.

Raku in the past had been the new kid and his fits had never quelled the official son's anticipations...The book would make up for lost time. Not as an premature bully, yet as a regal ruler of the worlds over! (Raku was Roku before the events in Wattpad story Forbidden Myth Veil of Time series by Pageturner09. )

The book had unfortunately for our antagonist, continued to burn as a single strand of firey energy slithered across the ground from the abandoned cover, to then reunite within the form of a modern, scientific journal.

Manifesto transformed himself to seem even more powerful than the tome's original copy by overtaking the journal as his new container. Marcus was fuming still as he attempted to bring rains by his arms raised up over his matted skull. He'd show that book the truth!

Poor Marcus blinked, gaping as he felt something amiss, his eyes looked lost as he pondered the lines on his palms. His end...

His arms were completely dry, his magic..gone! "No...no nono! Put out the flames! Rain! Save..Save me **nooooww!"** He stomped his feet as if 'magic' was meant to come when called.

The fire had continued to burn out of control as it ruined the original copy before anyone could intervene.

Ava's magic with Ayane's spared enough of the blaze's destruction as the two helped the rest of the lab to keep from burning everything those fires touched.

"Manifesto..Manifesto...Mine..it was **minemineminemiiinee!"** The boy ranted as his unstable thoughts only worsened things for the team. Manifesto however knew what to do now that his meat - sack puppet boy was unhinged.

Ava saw this and again attempted to command Chris in Hati's guise to subdue Borgges - before the tome had any plans for the brat to become his sacrifice or something along those lines.

Chris skid across the tiles as his toes , all four remained grounded. The tome though had known of the wolf's not so innocent obsession with a certain princess.

 _ **~Osiris!**_ I call unto thee! Bring me the power I so seek from thee!~ Isa's beautiful guise reverted to her goddess's form. Isis now held her favoured ankh as the strength she desired, was to fight relic with relic.

~You understand the art of liberation of the spirit far too well! It disrupts the balance of all!~ Isis warned the book as it levitated higher and higher into the air. Hati watched as dog wagging its tail with anticipation. Ava slapped a hand to her forehead before the thought hit her. Where was the original book?

~I am only _just_ a storyteller! I no longer desire to have others write along my pages so carelessly!~ The tome was most upset, his art had been laughable at best thanks to that spirit official drop out.

"Your craft is corrupting those who are already lost...I will return you , and then -

~What about my sisters!?~ Ava cried out and tried to put a wall of ice to limit the fires once they had nearly been dispelled. "The book...he burned it-

~The children are safe...that book was but a mere vessel to contain the true artifact! I am impressive, am I not?~

~A djinn with the ruling of an outlaw...You are a criminal to us! Now be sealed back inside, from!-

The cry of a rather disturbed 'runt' had Ava knocked aside as Marcus was called to collect his ...mas..ter...

"My...huff*..lord Manifesto! I will s-stop that s-s-stupid w-witch!" Borgges's eyes were glassy yet he smiled as the reward granted would soon be a taste of the tome's mighty power...His power to use as he saw fit for his lordship's sake.

~Confront that boy before he!~ Marcus was too slow as his head turned around only after Ava had dusted herself off to see the result of her own spells gone awry.

 _~Ava!~_ Chris was offended deeply as his impulses lit up as quickly as a precession of will o' whisps.

 _"Haagh!"_ Chris did not hold back. Words buzzed in his head as those words were not the direct orders he had been given.

He clamped his jaws into Marcus's cloaked shoulder as the teen boy gasped with the pain eating through his tender flesh..he..was almost , tangible! No...nonono! It hurt! His face contorted in pain before a sweat induced shiver turned to pure agony.

 _ **"HaAAAAAHHHHHH!"**_ The silver haired kid was not a fan of being bitten by a guard dog of the far northern world of spirit. Not even Cerberus could compare to this stinging, biting, nipping frostbite as Ava cast another spell to contain her friend...no..he...Was her soldier now...This was all her fault!

/

Oh no! Chris is a bad astral wolf! Looks like Ava cannot forgive someone corrupted too far down the path...

The book does have a voice though can remain whole as long as it has a paper back vessel to keep it from falling apart. The sound of sirens calling in Sanremo? Yup and Agatha is upstaged even outside of her fantastic daydreams. Raven was a fake and Lao Ming is still hunting down her prey...In the meantime?...

Shoji comes into the realm of a Universal being of the Underworld. What antics will ensue once our heroes reunite at long last? Stick around and stay curious for much more to come!


	13. Chapter 13

Teen Titans; New Generations- The Manifesto Pages- Storyteller Arc Part Two; Chapter 12: Living Out Loud- Higher Places- Darkest Abyss of the Soul's Desire. We are, Playing Hide and Seek After School's Out?!

/

Shoji's neck hair prickled up in defense...This world was unlike Hecate or Lady Hel's domain. If those had been his hackles as Verra, this beastly spider of the netherworld would never have been his worst nightmare. No, these were his darkest fears converted and projected onto a single aspect...yet a spider?

The womanly archetype of a Black Widow. A large, dangling, omipotent being with fangs as large as a dragon's claws.

Eyes of many and worst of all, nothing escaped this being's second sight.

~Our corner, this one which consists of this world, you tread not so carefully upon its plane. ~ The stern, deadly voice of the daemon aspect of the void called out to Shoji as he tried to block her attempts to ensnare a captive. She looked hungry. Thirsting for her next meal was one thing, yet why had Cici been hiding this creature inside her soul? This was definitely a cursed being of neither ill nor gracious intent!

~I...~ He could only studder as the daemon's fangs dripped by the dream catcher's venom it produced. Visions held captive within grey whisps of smoke, possessed souls that had saught the deadly queen's graces were forced to remain. They currently haunted every inch as insects to this deva of both sides. She was a neutral architype, (typo) the worst sort of deity to ever thrive within the planes of man's imagination..

~I am here, to ask that you no longer control my ally, Cecilia...So that her powers can help to save the -

~You do not know...Sad hound...I pity thee.~ The creature was with her own speech pattern as many lands had distinct dialects. A daemon that was as Cici, almost never without a second mask to carry. Shoji guessed that this world too housed many secrets.

~The reason that you have come , is not for you to decide of my vessal's fate...My contracted Daia is of the line Crescendo. This is as her fate, it always would have been in the end her very fate to be foretold...~

Shoji looked to the ground and grit his teeth by the bitter taste that spider had left. His strained voice felt unnatural to the cat.

~Cecilia is not free-

~Freedom is an illusion if we allow it to grow too large within our hearts. Our minds crave it, desire control where there is little need for a spirit or Daemon as I am...She, the girl was not capable in obtaining such a dream. Her will is not strong enough to break from I, her contracted spirit in mind and body.~

Shoji understood as he turned to reply to the arachnid being. ~She had us meet to clear any suspicions...Yet you were not going to steal my soul? Why the display from before then?~

~Do you not recall 'our' classified role in some old stories in the world?~ The spider was smirking Shoji decided, and by her questioning tone of voice, she was about to test the rest of him until satiated..gross..

~This was later, you are of the void from the very begining. TIME gave you that role to -

~We weave, we can also lie. ~ The spider interrupted. ~We can mask ourselves, lying in wait of those unsuspecting...~ Her many eyes narrowed a bit as Shoji felt that familiar and sickening chill pass over him again. Her hunger, was it a false feeling or emotion he felt from this creature?

~Should I know the name in which Cecilia calls to you?~ Asked the business - cat , as he could finally reason with this cryptic being of the nether- realms once they had established some connection. Even of separate voids, they held Cici's interests at heart.

The spider creature moved its legs to change positions inside its massive web- cradle. The being thought in silence to herself as she wove a second web beside her current one. ~The contract we now share binds our time to the past and present.~ The arachnid responded to the daemon guardian, Veravakumu.

~ Cecilia can see the next steps needed ...You coming to me was predestined to occur, in time. My name should remain interwoven...collective as one mind...Why, even my contracted wouldn't dare to utter it! All for the fear she carries now. It to-day is far too great a reminder of her fated life unlead.~

The spider explained all of this while fixing up a web with the symbols of a crow, a brand from long ago, and a book etching into it carefully.

Symbols that baffled Shoji as he stood against the being's power. ~Why don't you give her that rite at least?~ The spider knew that the dog had a lot of catching up to do. The question was idealistic, unlikely to change the spider's mind at all. Cecilia had kept even this dark secret of her real role from her own mother and sister. The only ones that knew were Kaien, Hecate, and now Shoji as he had wandered into a den far from time and space.

~She had undergone a transformation - by that last moment you had encountered the priestess.~ The daemon spoke again. ~The priestess is no longer a girl, not the one in which ye once recognised by face and name..~

~How..Oh gods..Just...Did this happen!? ...When she was ..Then?!...~

The spider's hissing fangs rubbed together as the mutt let out a sharp gasp in surprise. Shoji felt a pang from his heart. Because of his life as a guardian, he had once known the entire Daia line ...Catherine must have been heartbroken herself..

~Nay!~ Hissed the creature aloud. The spider was becoming worried by the dog's actions. He was not to remain for much longer as a human within her void.

~This was expected by the fore! The being which claimed her in order to save the priestess Crescendo as well, was a being that had not been what I am ...It was a mirror of pure darkness. A parasite meant to seal the fates of prophets! It was not I , nor was this creature of good intent so forgiving as I had tried to be for she...it had only the aura of a deadly poison..I saved her, we met within the madness of her soul by the very instant..there was nothing left to save however ...~

~You...set her free from the curse by implanting another one to counter it...~ Shoji was astonished by how the guardian had been watching over Cici's entire world since birth. ~She was not afflicted, we saw her in another light, so then..why do you see something of Cecilia that is impure? Are you going to have her as your vessal?~

~Hardly. ~ The spider wagged one great arm as if the dog could be toppled by her massive size alone. ~Cecilia Daia was saved by this immortality granted by my will unto her's. Without this pact, she would be as dead as her sister - Alicia is still, incomplete as an Ethereal in spirit has remained unseen ..Cecilia is only a seer, she reports the tellings of time untold to me. I keep the records of living and dying worlds within my web of time..~

~Lisa on Earth is the former Princess Alicia's vessel at the moment.~ Shoji knew that much from talking to one of his informants in the clouds.

~She too will not turn as her sister still has not allowed this memory of their bond to die...~ The daemon was distant with her words estranged. ~It was once a poison meant to fuel such intent...That was the misery in which lead to my charge's transformation.~

~Cici was always..cursed then...~ Shoji frowned and rubbed his jaw.

~You _understand.~_

The daemon nodded as Shoji quickly nodded a 'yes' back in turn.

~ She was incomplete long before her turning. The girl was the kind of spirit in being that was vulnerable. By turning to her harpy self and the strix's promises, this change became her revival by my hand. Had she not let herself slip into darkness, we might have beaten her stars to control such a destructive fate...Nay..That is impossible for a god like myself.~

~She was bound to be this way. Just as Alicia was bound to change..~ Shoji sighed. It was as if he had almost forgotten the other princess's face.

~Now you realize, their fates were not blind. nor could you remain blinded by your idiot question. What we bind, we weave together, for a future is never set in stone...Not until we establish a bond with our fate in order to alter its course can we determine our question that I dream unto you, Veravakumu...?~

~You knew my true name..~ Shoji stepped back as the daemon woman aspect chuckled deep in her throat.

~Cautious as a young pup, you have lost faith in your kind for far too long...the path was never easy. You, the wanderer, the assassin and teaacher as well as the lover...You, the liar and one to cheat his own fate- the soul stealer of another's time on that late Earth...~

~I feel like pointing fingers will rip me apart quite well-

~It tells of YOUR story.~ The spider spoke. ~ The manifestation of your fears is the fear of returning to the world in which you may some day govern with confidence.~ The cat could not argue there. He too wore many masks on occasion.

Shoji nervously rubbed the back of his neck as the daemon had allowed the cat some freedom to his aching limbs to do so.

~What of the djinn called, Manifesto?~ He asked once freed. ~You know this story.. as my heart tells me to keep away -

~You have the answer, if not then to- day, then search back to when the myth of your misery had not yet been conceived...~

Shoji mulled over what the deity was trying to relay. He was unsure of what 'time' the arachnid had meant. Before his own misery had ever been conceived...What did THAT mean?..

~Time...going back...~

~Others would share his pain, and unto the great world their was only one emotion within those sacred walls to remain...~

The cat closed his eyes as a vision of the spirit past unfurled by the daemon spider's powers to conceive such a place.

Back, back before his own time in the world of another...

/

(The full explanation is in Wattpad story The forbidden myth- veil of time series arc under Pageturner09 that includes the Isles Academy, Marcus, and Prince Raku during his younger years.)

An accredited (typo?) family of the faire folk to the west of spirit Europe had been in power, helping to sculpt the realm within their abilities to do so accordingly. The head was an esteemed member of the high council of Spirit and Immortal reigns- a Sir Borgges. A name that was both respected and revered at the council's table, the family of this generation had only born unto their name, one son; a Marcus Philanius Borgges and the only one produced to continue the family line by his rites.

The boy had been lucky, yet his mother was not of the exact origin of fae as the family's head . She was something of a nuisance as the two parents fought even as their son grew to recognise the world as it was. Marcus grew distant from his family. As caretakers, they cared only for their perfect status as lord and lady . And the world the boy soon believed by his unhappy life, had to be just that.

A _mistake._

He was neglected, sent to study with esteemed teachers yet never progressing as early as his parents had hoped. The boy longed to know that his parents still held some good praise for their son's attempts, yet this strict code of ethics of the Borgges family meant a greater set of expectations to address daily for young Marcus as he'd soon reach adulthood.

Our antagonistic Marcus was sent on his twelveth birth year to the Northern Isles Academy of Magic. He too was of such an origin as his father, while the boy had trained long enough until his spells finally had his father beaming- though never showing it openly in front of his son.

The child was sent right away to this school where he stayed within the dorms and built a network through his family's influence (mostly to protect himself from any outside threats.) Those that would even to dare allow the school's order to fail, had only to watch where they walked in the dead of night from then on until graduation.

However, the mystic arts held a dark side. One that the boy soon found was documented within the walls of the Academy. This place had once accepted a cult for a very important role within the school's inner circle. Marcus's father had been in fact a member. Well, if anything else, a new student from a country surrounded by desert had been administered to the Academy by some powerful figures. The newest Headmaster of the school had instantly taken to the child known as Prince Raku of the realm within the Sands Of Time ...

Marcus took to blackmail, a tasteless crime that had the younger student made his punching bag in a matter of weeks. Yet the boy only pitied Marcus with those eyes, he allowed the bullying if it made a dent in the silver haired child's heart. An ebony haired boy with red eyes when excited by unecessary (typo?) violence, he had been odd to say for the most part...

Two students defended the younger, though found Marcus to have been unwell in his efforts. A vixen entered the school in search of the son of her foe; the king Ulla of Raku's country . She disguised herself and took Marcus from his thoughts by her powers of persuasion. To this, Marcus did just as she asked, weakening Raku's resolve with tactics that could have had a brave soul down onto their knees.

Marcus soon became a victim of the strix's enchantment. His soul was nearly stolen by her deadly beauty. Her magic tainted Borgges's heart and eyes, while young Raku had managed to escape with the help of the other two boys of his dorm hall.

One boy first, then the other were quickly captured by the strix's intervention as she made her move on the preteens without batting a lash. Marcus was lost by lust, by her hands gripping him, tugging him down into a never ending nightmare.

Raku's allies came, they liberated the children from the strix and her evil influence. Marcus was left branded as an unfortunate victim- yet he had allowed himself to be taken! The boy's one ego had greatly changed. His heart hammered away once Raku had been sent back on board a great ship to return home...

The reason for such envious greed, the one reason why Raku was treated like an object within those walls by the other boy, had been because of the immortal child's magical powers of manifestation.

Marcus wanted to see that power again, he had desired such abilities if ever the witch had been correct...Now, she was banished and he was left within the misery of his household.

Though one evening ...

Marcus had not found the book on a shelf in the physical realm. He had dreamed of it coming into his possession. Then and there the pages started to turn, the gears clacking as Marcus now had the powers of a god in man's form.

And then, the pages fell away along with his old life. The world the boy had known since creation were nothing more than a dream to soon be forgotten, time and time again.

The presence of Raku's aura was no more in this new world Marcus had just arrived in. The only power in which one could manifest something into being, was a lost and forbidden art that the evil tome possessed. Djinn, demon, spirits, gods, they had this power though never used it in vast quantities ...

The book was with a voice, one that promised that Marcus could have whatever he desired, yet for a price..

Borgges had gone along with the scheme. He'd traveled through dozens of portals to arrive later on Earth's plane of existance. The line had been crossed, yet the power he had gained allowed the boy to remain plenty tangible. With such luck, Marcus earned and gained a fighting force from the most unlikely of backgrounds-

A Tenkit rebel outcast named Lao Ming (who also had a vendetta against the Princess JinMae of the Tenkit race who thrived currently within the spirit east's borders.) She also respected and admired Marcus by his having buttered her up into becoming his faithful assasssin.

Sir Charl ; of a knight's unfortunate past . Handed down the same role across generations, the male had hoped to become a painter- yet his Papa had forbidden the Parisian son anything other than a sword and coat of arms to become the boy's later guide. Marcus respected Charl by his very charm and wit alone.

Lao Ming could fight well- as she had tampered in her day with a bit of shadow magic.

Charl was a Shifter imp by his turned hatred (once his desires had destroyed the male's sound mind for good.) He was also a fighter, though chose to toy with his enemies by means of deception and mind games (where his role worked out perfectly by this method. )

Charl knew magic by his later title, his two familiars being the things most likely to consume the warrior once his bones had been crushed by a worthy adversary. At least his healing power had greatly heightened by the turning! To kill a shifter imp, one would have to break the cycle.

The magic that the three held made them the perfect assassins for the world of Earth to soon know. However, as dreams were what had stolen the lives of our these antagonists within this particular tale, so had Shoji awoken with a gasp and a head swimming full of unanswered questions.

/

Ronald felt like a prisoner within the great theatre's walls. Vespa had been able to outwit the security up front long enough to look for a link- one to contact the hero Titans of Earth.

~You take it easy and take Aggie down a bit more! Esme and I are not going to leave you behind again. ~

Cliff had said this earlier, he had also said to watch out for killer demon spies while the idols slept. "I have time to kill, but Agatha...She thinks this is some game?" Ron paced the V.I.P room floor and prayed that the diva was sane...Maybe even good but...she was not. Rotten, sneaking about like a bloody thief after the right heart to drag under!

Ron smacked his face with a growl, letting his skin get a tug as models would have lectured against the dog's uncultured habit. "Mum isn't going to like any of it!" Sayu, Sayumon would freak out! She had a reputation once again to keep altogether. Oh! Why was this just a trip named 'disaster' in the first place!?

"Hurry it along, Vespa..." He grunted and leaned back into a leather couch in the V.I.P lounge. No doubt that a miasma of anxiety had cr...

~Close call, blocked that thought.~ Ron huffed within the speak. ~Cliff was on top of more than I'd a guessed...way to follow orders, mate!~

The wall clock was closing in on ten pm in five minutes. The heroes had to rush in to save the day...why was the ending such a drag nowadays!?

A creak of the doorway had the lightening fox turn his head towards the eerie sounding pull of wood from its frame.

"Ronnie?" It was, Aggie...oh no..

 _"Kid?"_ The fox tried to sound surprised, acting wasn't his best method out of a tight squeeze however.

"I was just meeting with the other opening acts." She seemed to use a subtle amount of caution, as if expecting the dog to bring the deary down a peg. Kitsune beings were naturally tricksters. They could blend in to a crowd and break every bone in your body- without getting caught ( if Ron were that skilled or loved the limelight once..until it had costed him something much greater than his respect as a baseless idol.)

"Oh, was that all?" Ron leaned back with a hand across his tender brow. It smarted something fierce just by Aggie's presence alone. Being ALONE with an evil ex- cult's exiled priestess!

"Did I leave you and your friend alone in the dark too long?" She asked this,though it was to trick not aide in thematter. "Where is your companion?" The girl had caught on. Ron did the normal human thing he did at parties. He talked as if nothing interested him, using a cool persona - it was downright rude!

"Dunno, she likes to enjoy herself. Not my bother to go about-

"Aren't you _afraid_ that she'll be too much of a social butterfly?" The silvery eyed teen batted her eyes, hoping to weaken the dog's resolve. "Nah, she's got every right to be here as much as we do, ya know. Curious though aboutwho our opening cast is?" He wondered as his eyes reemerged from beneath the dog's, shaking, splayed fingers.

"The brother- sister duo from Portugal? Oh, yeah, I think they have a name...Did not ask this early in the event...And you! We did not hear you two play your whole song for the event!" The girl was just that, an entirely different..NO! She was trying to be a vixen in order to do away with the guardians! Ron would resign if ever he dated someone he never even loved...This was going to end badly...SHE was bad news!

"But, you looked _so_ unhappy...I thought that calling you here would change that ?" She was just too nosy. Ron adjusted himself on the sofa as Aggie turned...that blaated chatty cathy was dimming the lights?! Shit!

"You won't have to crawl away again. That partner of yours is not what she seems..Maybe let her down _gently?-_

"I won't play in your show if my participation is based off of baseless threats on my gi-

"She's too close for you two to be unrelated, Ronald."

Aggie let one lamp stay on from within the dimly lit room. Ron transformed into his elemental self to protect the false persona he had left out in the open..She had their number! Of course Agatha knew!

"Why are you trying to stop this?" The lights flickered on then off as the lightening pup emerged right on cue. "I am just trying to live my life over! Without those silly memories to bind me...I have **_chosen_** to be this way!"

She was defending her ego no matter how miserable she'd been as Athena's or Hecate's bloody puppet. As a protege to the Delphi priestesses of Dodona, the girl wished nothing more than to forget. The time here was up. VIP or not, Aggie had to be cast away . She could not try to turn others by her pitiful music.

"The Titans forgot about me...Ravenna _hated_ that I had **defied** her! That I _**allowed**_ a devil into the -

"The story was already told! You can wallow in your self pity later!" Ron as his lightening pup form sent a jolt to hit the lamp switch. Aggie dodged and used a barrier to protect...She knew where he was going to hit next?!

"Like you said , you and ' Ravenna' should just try again. To fix things by your own -

 **"NO!** Ravenna **_WANTS_** me to disappear!"

The lights flickered off again as Agatha shouted for the dog to back off. The lightening strike this time was aimed at the clock on the wall. It sputtered and hit Aggie's forcefield as a couple of scattered parts of plastic and metal.

"You just think that this is going to make you forget! You are only digging yourself deeper under! " Ron exclaimed while Aggie's eyes had begun to see his truth. "Turn off the lights, face the dark. Then, come out and cry about it! You are as human as I am right now ...THAT IS your seond chance! Take it and start!-

 _ **"NONONO!"**_ Symbols appeared in mid air and from them, the book of Manifesto emerged as an intangible ghost. "I did not promise...I can flee from this pain any time I wish! My wish...Manifesto! I _wish_ to be unstoppable in my new time! I want to forget that...I loved ! I am a scourge of my enemies! Grant it _**now!"**_

The book's chuckle was a wake up call as miasma turned to light and ash. Clouds lit the room as a storm brewed out of the public's eye.

~If that is your wish... Then I shall have it as a _reality!_ The gain; a new sense of freedom...Your loss? You will never care for another soul unless it is you yourself. Love is your sin. Remember this well!~

"You are selling yourself to his cause! Don't do **_this!...AGATHAAA!"_** Ron jumped up but it was too little time between them. The distance was far too great as the shattered clock soon was reassembled..The time piece magically was driven into Aggie's belly as her grunt of pain brought tears to the dog's widening eyes. ~AGGIEE!"

Aggie forced herself to stand upright. Still, even with her wish now granted, something felt amiss. Her face was cold and that was to be expected. Demons that granted wishes wanted souls...Her's had been incomplete. The dead eyed girl looked to the hound as if she had something to say. She smiled with her neck positioned in a painful way, looking back as if to mock her ex- ally right in his tortured eyes.

"I...am set..free...~ She was turned as well as a lifeless puppet- except to all but Manifesto as his laugh rang out above the petrified fox.

Ron's eyes turned to slits as his power of rage increased tenfold center of his beating chest. "Aggie...what have you _done_ to her!?" Exposing his teeth to the devil tome, the kitsune being pounced. Aggie's timepiece was her life force. A time ruined for she had destroyed a piece of her humanity in the process..

Ravenna was probably weeping from her realm of the Universals right now. Ronald attacked as the book was growing stronger. Soon, it would devour the dreams of all of the citizens here in Sanremo...He could fight for now..ButWhere was Vespa with the bleeding Titans!?

Escaping from living in the above world for a while, Vespa had to look to the back streets before making her way towards the underground. Heck, she had always had intentions. Hecate was counting on the half Italian woman to discover the first flaw she could. If that witch so much as dragged her down!-

A beeping sound resounded and pulled Vespa from her daydream. The Titans were contacting her private cell...not so much since the ex- priestess Agatha had invaded her previous number! How did they...Ron...

"Buon-

"Hello? Oh, the leader...I see...they were taken to do _what?_ Where are you now ?"

Vespa felt a prickle against her brow which must have meant that the empath was close by..

 _"Hey!_ " The tall Esperion native took notice and saw a curious threesome by the local ..bistro..in disguise..Very interesting.

"And to think you are the bravest of your nations...I have to wonder.." Vespa closed her cell and put it into its pouch as she walked over to join the three at a small table under the stars. "Looks too familiar...A-

"We _know_ who you work for , Vespa." Dick Grayson cooly said with his eyes on the dog in her own sheep's clothing.

"I wasn't hiding anything - you would have eventually discovered the reason..Did lovely Ronald dare to mention?-

"No, he was not aware until Raven figured it out. That is why you and Verra are not only competing under the same element. He chose to side with Isa because of Hecate's bet-

"Whoa, **whoa!"** The miss brought up a set of palms to interrupt. "Never! Hecate was trying to stop that crazed enemy from corrupting the Chosen! Yet the Chosen was fine, the rest was not her fault. The one to have made the decision...Was a false face within the council . "

She leaned in as if not caring about her appearance. Not a pampered pooch when covered in gunpowder and guilt.

"Hecate had the events relayed to her, but they were not the _real_ events. The Chosen was not her target...The intruder made that point clear...But I know enough to tell you, that one of those childen in fact is still in grave danger!"

"Who?" Kori's eyes lit as her body rose slowly up to intimidate the dog woman. "Who is in danger from within our family?"

Vespa lowered her head and hoped none could hear. "The youngest, that child with the sun in her heart." Was all she answered back in one whisper across the bistro table.

/

Ami was out of the way for now. She had gone on and on about her boy friend...The sorcerer who had trapped them here and had no clue?

This had to be a trick, even Roko was here as a freaking transfer student . Ami loved her japanese animation so much, that it had manifested itself as her illusive dream where Manifesto called the shots...or did he really...

Now, Rouko as it were, had called Anna out to face her after all classs had ended...To face off for Ami's feedom in the gym..

"Good thing it's kinda like my old hangout." Anna rested her head with her crossed arms cradleing her skull, above her as she walked- comical indeed!

Ami...

It was a comic- a nightmarish one that would not let the poor red- head go!

"I don't read much of what she reads so I at least _HOPE_ that nothing else makes me lose my-

The gym doors opened on their own as Roko must have already set the stage. The bleachers were covered with a large white tarp. The windows were barred shut. The gym's ball bins were...In a row as the tall metal baskets were lined up on the floor?

"I thought that tag would be a fun game to try. But instead, I decided on something...More so fitting for you to understand your place here.."

Roko emerged from the shadows in her school uniform holding an item between her two fingers. She lazily held that weapon in her right hand. "You aren't a villain in my book." Anna scoffed. "Just a spoiled lttle brat who didn't get enough love or attention from daddy-

"He was bound to lose, that dragon was too soft ..to ...weak with his emotions." Roko gripped the ball as if she could let her claws extent at any time. She instead paced in a short walk across the lines of the gym floor, against the ones that already were painted on the wood. Her walk was her talk the only perpetuated tge miss's inflated ego some more.

"While I have been practicing daily..In order to get back at all of YOU...It all became quite clear!" The FIRST ball flew but by magic. It was dodgeball from the bin!

She was going to -

"Ugh! What's with..The floor!" Ann jumped out of the way as the center of the court became walls of mazes - No! Ahah! Yup, she was trapped inside the labryinth with her late greatest enemy to date! Anna's ffists shook as her breathing heightened by the sudden, sheer rush of adrenaline.

The next red bullet shot forth as Roko laughed maniacally. Her demon self was released from its deep slumber while the laughing only grew to bounce from wall to wall. (typo..)

 _"Dodge!_ See? THIS is how your life is going to ennd! **Ahahahahahahaaaaa!"** That monster's grin broke the last straw off of this dang camel's back ( or something in those words since Ann had forgotten the actual saying.) Ann charged on ahead and summoned her staff of the phoenix for some well- added support.

~ELEMENTAL FIRE! I CALL UNTO **YOU!"**

The staff materialized - but the softballs balls were too quick !

 _"Agh!"_ The chosen guardian's force field weakened as the staff was halved in power. Roko was not going to let her enemy summon the entire staff of the fire fowl's power!

"Dang it you loonie - bird!" Ann scowled , even by the mock stance that Roko took. The kid thought that she could beat an all-star if her ego were that large!

~ _Puleease!~Anna_ snorted in her mind's eye. ~She wants to look big, well I won't let her knock me down twice without a fight!~

"I should have to shut you down...Heh...Now, Ami's not watching so this can be as messy as my Op missions in the dang swamps! **Hyyaa!"**

"Oh! Big bad soldier is gonna go 'rogue' on me? A poor innocent transfer student?! What _EVER_ would your parents say to **_THAT_** behaviour?" The laughing twit of a demon send four blazing dodge balls as Anna barged through a set of the impregnatable maze's walls. The three panels fell like the towers of a certain historical disaster - now that Roko had the bombs, this was Hana Grayson's right to defend, at all and every cost!

Roko's magical dark aura surrounded one wall behind Ann as it came crumbling down. Ann jumped and flung her self from danger, while Roko just made a mockery of her desperate situation with more fighting, biting quips.

 **"TIIMMMBEEER!"** The demoness yelled as if she were the jester Puppetmaster instead. "How about it? You earned a trip _to...ROUND_ TWO!"

This was _ridiculous!_ The balls now were firey with dark flames, the walls were stairs that twisted like tops upside down- structured like tilta- whirls!... Roko had made the perfect carnival ride/ obstacle course for crazies!

Anna scaled the steps as she leapt from one to another. The bleachers! They had not moved despite the room being sucked into a wormhole. With a leap up and to the spot, Anna found that another forcefield kept her from leaving the space. Roko howled with laughter and pointed out to the red head's dismay. Roko easily reappled her masquarade (the fake assassin in arcs previous) mask onto the right side of her own face.

"You think I'd let you go!? There is still no such winner crowned yet! You have to dodge every attack first! Then I'll let you out of my mouse trap!"

She laughed even louder as the training course became a fight to the finish. As soon as Anna had watched the clock wind down, she realized her luck. "Oh, no..."

"ROUND **_THREE!"_** Roko had an endless amount of energy as her own body dropped down and landed within the now flat as a top ( in mid air) arena where Anna tried desperately to stay inside the tilt-a-whirl ring.

"Ok, _Annie!_ Ahh.. this is where we bare knuckle it out. No weapons allowed. If you fall off the side , then it's game over. If I fall however, then you get to move to the last round. A happy lil' game of hide and go seek! Easy _right?"_ Roko's eyes were dewy and sweet, yet her motives were as rotten as her now putrid soul.

Anna snorted and crossed her arms. "Did being banished into the blackness of space make you into a _total_ fruit loop? This has got to be a bigger waste of time than!-

"If you don't participate, then I'll effectively win and gain the ability to rid you from Ami's perfect little, dreamworld-

Roko was playing baddie with a capital _B..Juust_ peachy!

"It's brainwashing her ! **You** did this! !" Anna spat. "Ami would **never** marry some evil sorcerer or attend to a wacky school for polishing one's 'grey and dull ' personalities!" Her eyes were locked on the idiot demoness in the other corner of the room.

The clown and evil mastermind that had decided to give it her all? This was not enough to impress even the Joker, the crown prince of crime still kicking in Gotham city! Poor, mr jay himself would have been stricken right into a coma by Roko's repetitive boasting..!

"Heh, well..Recalling from _before.."_ Roko's adult voice soon grew dark. " That if you think to go now, you'll have lost your chance in defeating Manifesto...But! _Ohh.._ I understand..A soldier's life _can_ be pretty dull . I was the assassin to more than just he, but to the dragon prince as well! " Ann grit her teeth and was determined to not let this kid- cookie get to her

Rouko continued. "As the demones strix's damned vessel, I followed orders just like a puppet on a dozen strings! We are just as that. Warriors born without our own expectations for a tomorrow. "

"What the heck are you _**saying?"**_ Anna growled. "Just let me save Ami or you'll have no choice but to be charged like a common criminal!-

"Silly you...I _soo_ do pity your choices.." The demoness yawned.

The maze's walls came down as masquarade's mask squeezed onto the demoness's face for that time only. "We are just that. Soldiers without a role that we'd wish to own! Without this our free will means nothing! !.."

"I'm not letting you get your way!-

"Look behind **you!"** The demoness sprung out of the shadows as the brawl had begun.

A kick to the ribs had Anna gasping to recover quickly. "You are to serve, to weaken your own sense of desire. And for _**what!?**_ " The kick came again, though Anna dove out of the way as Roko's leg would have cracked open her spine like a coconut. That blow...The demon in Roko wasn't holding back. As an assassin she had been taught to let her opponent believe that her strength was genuine. Roko had the upper hand ...Shit!

"The mask I wanted to offer you...It would look so good since your red hair goes perfectly with gold and _silver!"_

The hit was less than easily avoided as the top arena doubled in mass. It was a wider playing field until they ran out of gymnasium!

"I wonder why you were left here to keep anyone safe...All when you are dying to get home and forget this whole world forever! **HAH!"**

The _chop*_ would have left Anna as a vegetable had she not dodged in time..These were serious moves! Martial arts and..Anna only knew the most as to injure...She could...Ah...but.! She was _**NOT**_ going to kill someone who most definitely looked human...wait!?

 **"Flying** _serpent!"_ Anna shouted out from one of her father's moves by the Grand Master. Now or never, she had to stall the monster for a moment of her peace of mind...Before that was taken too!

 _"Haha!"_ Circus tricks won't stop _me,_ princess!"" The demoness had her body become as fluid as a water dragon's . Ann gasped by how her one attack had failed. She was gripping her fists and trying to look brave..But why was she so nervous?

 _"Cobra_ **_STRIKE!"_**

Anna did feel the sting as the poisonous intent hit one of her pressure areas in the arm with a sharp enough jab*. She cussed and fell to her knees before Roko only decided to kick her enemy's side just for laughs.

 **"Shiit!** _Roko!"_

Down onto the mat Anna was left, as Roko attempted to drag Anna kicking and screaming to the end of the tipping top.

She couldn't lose! Anna's eyes bulged open.

"No!" Anna's heart raced as her chest was filling with low oxygen..calm down..this was not the end!

"I..Am...not...!-

"You are going to lose honorably and seal my little gift onto your face! Your sibling Ami said you needed to change...In fact...You should have attempted it at the age of your chosen **REVIVAL!** _Down_ you go! I have no need-

 ** _"HIIYAA!"_** Anna swung her two legs back and grabbed Roko by the waist to pull her bewildered enemy into an effective pile drive against the mat. Propelling herself back onto the mat... Hana was went down as planned, but dang! She had been sooo close to the edge! God! She'd almost lost Ami for good...

"Out of breath?" The demoness readjusted her school uniform's top as it had been torn unceramoniously from the backwards topple. "Well, you've earned that game of hide and seek with passing marks...Drop the arena!"

The arena did as planned. It fell into the floor as sandy dusk as Anna felt her body falling, falling and in a roll she saved herself against the wooden floor of the gymnasium. Roko gracefully fell as a goddess from the heavens and landed on both feet before covering her eyes...

To count to ten !

"Ichi, ni-

"Not like _that!"_ Ann shouted by how the demoness loved to pull too many pranks on her enemies.

"Go...-

"Fine! Where to hide..." Anna knew that five was closer to ten than one or two. She bolted to look for a place where she at least could not be dragged down with the cookie - demon. (Calling someone a cookie is actually an insult. Like calling them a fruit loop! Ugh, still no idea why that is a thing or was!)

The ball bin! **Yess!** It was _perfect!_ An attack plan do or die...at least she had weapons while her arm returned eventually to normal. Ann thought about the details as she skittered over to the bin on tip toe.

The bin was...The safest one was inside the gym's supply closet though...Crap!

 _"Aaannnd,_ ready or not...Here I come..!"

The look on the remaining left side of Roko's face was as a grade schooler's. Innocent and engaged in the hunt.

 _"Humm,_ I wonder if this was ever a war tactic to save the 'women and childen?' I guess it was...In the past when your kind were grovelling on the ground like **dogs** for dear life!" Roko was no master of fear tactics but she was a good IT manifestation ...or a close enough tribute to the clown.

~I have to keep as quiet as the damn dead...if I lose now...~ Ann used the speak but reallized the severity of that as well.

 _"Sigh*..."_ Roko shook her head as if she were not having fun any more with their little game. "How about ...Best out of _three!"_

The demoness shattered the basket as Anna went flying out of it and onto the hard floor. Ann was in shock before she shook herself clear of any doubt. Time to go on the defense yet?

"I was _right_ behind you all the way!" Grinning back, the seriously creepy monster stepped toards Annie to catch her off guard.

"Best three..This is the part is when you catch _me."_ Anna added, panting while Roko was ok with letting her prey flee once more. " So that means ...I have to run away!"

"Sounds like you are dead serious to win! You have my vote!" Roko's mask finally took to covering the last of her face. It was more frightening as the design looked to be more void of emotion than the demon's own. All save for the grin of a zombified demon as it was her new mask, the one that never changed.

She pounced, though Anna brought up a ball from the floor to smack the ebony character right into her new face.

 _"Agh!_ You will not get far!" The demoness screamed by the shock. " I will hunt you down until the ellimination( typo..) round erases you for all eternity!"

"Catch me if you _can,_ fuggly!" (Watching my words!)

Anna skid onto her toes as she dashed for the exit that had undone its latch just for their stupid game of tag. Freedom was close.. Roko could only toy with her until the self lost every right to bully anyone, ever again!

 **"You..are...it!"** Anna shouted back to get the monster's blood boiling. The more walls that came down, the easier it would be to wake up Ami and leave this mad house behind for good.

/

"Kayumon was close by, I thought." Vespa frowned as she flipped a finger across her phone's screen. Raven had sensed this by her ability being enhanced from Ravenna's homeworld. The reborn Ravenna of Rokuro's time had been with Spain, yet Ravenna before that time had been a prophetess of the ancient world that belonged to Greece and Rome.

Vespa was a watchdog at Hecate's feet. She wanted to become the dark crone's vassal ...But then why help the heroes at all? "Here, I think his line is busy. "

"Why do we not go to the stage and meet with our friends once we have-

"We are powerless without the rest of us to work together." Raven corrected. Poor Kori had heard of Ami being in danger, she was afraid to let that go unnoticed much longer..

"Nope.. busy, poor link." Dick huffed before a thought hit him. "Vespa, I'll need to borrow your phone." Her turned as Raven raised an inquisitve brow upwards.

"Not one please in that sentence, but ok hero!" The dog smiled and tossed her device to the ex- leader who fumbled with it as Vespa just sighed by how adorable this 'hero' really was - now down on his luck!

Raven frowned by how unreadable Vespa was. This had to be her real face that had almost driven Ronald to drink...Ehem..those other, few nights ago.

"Ok, a few more.." Richard used the comm unit to add an extra picture as the devices finally were ready to work in sync.

"I see hi...a location?"

"Satellite. Not very noble but it will do I think." Vespa smirked by how the boy had hacked into the camera of Roma's own lands on a street corner.

"Ok, then he's close! Crap-

"In the sky?" Kori bumped Richard's arm while the two viewed an incoming-

 _"TAILSPIIN!~_ Kay was ready to barge in alright. Hitting the street from the sky was not wise however..

Raven used her lasting ability to freeze time quickly, while Kori and Vespa got to work on stopping a twenty ton beast from the worst crashland in history he would ever be called on to report to Sayu!

"Mumsy would break your neck , so please **halt!"**

Vespa's esperion magic changed along with beautiful body of an elite human female. It was a long eared dopple in light purple with different markings from Verra's copy cat complexion.

 _"Espie!"_ Kay returned with a gleeful shout to his form immediately as Calumon. ( We use a similar concept as alternate worlds , like in Tsubasa Chronicles.)

"How's it **goiiin!"** He was over the moon as the fluffy buddy used his big ole' ears to land himself , the crowd still remained frozen in time thankfully.

 **"Raaaw!"** Vespa in her new fox- cat, hybrid form nipped at her relative's ear out of disappointment. "You forgot where to meet and almost blew our covers along WITH YOUR OWN!"

"She's going to 'chew you out and spit you -'

"Kori, let them ' squabble ' before we go down fighting with quips..." Richard seethed with crossed arms as he knudged Starfire to quit gossiping . Well, even if she was only trying to help the cat and dog..they had other ideas.

 _"Land."_ Vespa revert easily back to her human form, glamourous and mad as heck turned topside.

Kay revert to his form of Cal as well, hs body bruised as if he'd been running from a fight...

"You must have known about the cat- girl . " Vespa tapped her foot with her arms crossed against her bearly covered chest. Her top was low cut unlike before's get-up. Wearing a dress of sequin purple, the diva was not Aggie nor Roko tonight. She liked to live the part of a super star. All the nitty gritty ways won over the ones she had on her hit list anywho.

 _"Change."_ She was commanding him until Raven saw just how.

"You..are cont-

"Let it _go."_ Vespa lifted a palm as Raven felt her mind ache with a twinge inside her skull. Rachel Roth blinked and knew that a spell had been cast just then..But on her?

Vespa returned her gaze to Cal with her starlit earings dangling under the dozens of street lamps still lit all across Sanremo.

"Change with a suitable outfit in mind. Try _again."_ Cal nodded back as his fair form was now clothed only in a super fine design that would drive him to the chapel...Vespa sniffed in her stride of that night's nightly gathering and turned to her heroic team of allies. "He's in your hands." The damsel in Vespa turned back to Raven last and gave her a sneak of a grin. "You are not the only empath to thisworld or the next. I have more power than I let on..Not all too glamourous a trait for my title. But look on high for Lao Ming. She could be close -

"Lao Ming?" Cal gawked as his will power had begun to return to him "Vesp! Why the weird welcome!? Can't we ever get along?"

"I was soo close in averting _YOU."_ The darker fox rolled her eyes with a soft snort. "Raven was it?" The mean ol' witch knew that she had to catch up with poor Ronnie quickly. "Take Cal as your guide, to find me waiting at the festival. "

"You are not sticking aound?" Kori cautiously narrowed her eyes to look into the fox daughter's dazzling two.

"I have other plans. And besides! Ronald is trapped inside a den of his own chosing. He needs me before there is no way out...See you inside, Titans." Vespa teleported as her power must have allowed that much. Raven blinked again and turned to Cal." She...her power is as a-

"Magic is hard to identify sometimes. Vespa is of both forms . Science and magical arts would be what you call an Empath."

"She was in the army." Dick added. "Doesthat have something to do with her condition?"

Cal sighed and had no answer for the ex- leader to give. " Just, keep up and you might find out why she's such an enigma."

"Not to mention that she dresses most inappropriat-

"Starfire..? Um, I think that's the least of our worries.." Raven coughed and wondered if Starfire had every questioned her own choices. Well, that was not what her tame self for so many years on Earth now perceived.

"Oh! I meant since she is on a mission. Am I wrong with Earth's customs... Please , I apologise then! Vespa is..different though...She will not tell us her reason for being involved..."

"She's on the side of the Underworld sect. " Cal sighed again. "C'mon I can show you a back entrance if it'll have you satisfied by what you might..witness.."

"I can't guess that far ahead." Raven shrugged as the team set off towards the main event hall only blocks away.

Cal mumbled something just as Richard and Raven passed by his two broad shoulders.

"Vespa is not just an assassin on our world, she..is known as an Executioner back in Hades."

/

Aiden and his team had no choice but to gather all of their power. That meant stopping for a few bubble tea desserts or even touring the Mochi Mania Factory- No! It meant heading right for Takahara Corp's big old sky scraper headquarters in the center of everything.

"Ava's inside..." Zan did feel a presence and turned back to her teammate Robin , who turned to the rest with a huff from each in unision. "Then breaking in is A ok. " Dami smirked as his fingers fiddled with the newly fixed system's security. This fun house could repair itself thanks to Marcus's crazy pact with an evil tome.

"Got it. We are in gang, just don't lose sight of the ext on our way out...I think there was already a breach. "

"Ava got here first. Chris has the power to slip through walls like a dang ghost. !" Aiden remembered that the wolf form was still an aspect of Ava's last bff that the blonde did not approve of. _"Creeper.."_

"All ready, then?" Glen had to keep Henry conscious with Zan's magic being just enough to save his friend's life. "Clear as quartz, ya er.." Henry membled as his head laid back against the half- frost giant's arm.

"Sorry, but our guy Henry has to sit this one out. I'll fight along side ya though." Glen turned to Aiden who understood to empathize. He had wanted to attack Ami's possessor. That was a bad idea that had left a spell on Henry's body and mind in the process...

"Sure thing. Gotta catch up to Dami, so just keep your steps light enough."

"No problem, boss." Glen smiled back as the whole team made their way inside the ransacked headquarters.

/

Ami was feeling woozy. She had to rest her eyes but where was the nurse's office again?

"I can't have this happen now!" She whined. "I wanted to show the new students around the school before they locked it up _tonight!"_

Ami turned suddenly to the sound of scuffling shoes against hard, expensive wooden floorboards.

 _"Heyyy!"_ She grew upset and stomped over to the perp around the corner. "You cannot run in the halls! It is again-

 _"Wha!"_ Ami was kept quite as Anna pulled her kid sis to the side with a set of fingers covering the tween's jaw...so...cliche!

"Are you this _dumb,_ Grayson?" Rouko was...Ami gulped as the other teen walked quietly against the floors.  
Her mannerisms were as the other students'..What was going on here!?

"Must have been a false lead...You can't hide forever!" Roko hissed as her claws clacked against a door...the teachers...why were they the only ones left!?

"If I call, those pesky staff members will world might belong to its queen, but I made her dream up this sappy reality with ease of the mind...Ami! If you can hear me, meow like a cat? Or bark like a puppy- dog for me?.."

Anna raised a brow but then heard Ami whimper under her hand's grasp. A muffled sound..she was being controlled!?

~No! **Don't** _listen!~_ Anna mind spoke to poor Ami as her voice soon went quiet again.

"You could let that outsider in...but she is trouble. "

Roko was using fear tactics now..Was this war time propaganda?

"Hah...You make the _poorest_ choices. First Amaterasu lost her magic, then you had the foxes fall to Manifesto's -

~No! No...Just _stay_ calm...She's trying to trick you...Nothing has happened...it's _ok..~_ Anna coaxed Ami's fears to die down...It was a soothing voice she never used, and through the speak's language.

"Hmm...I guess I'd be talking to the wind...oh well! " Rouko's face returned as her mask hid itself back away. "I have to find the nurses' office..."

Ami gasped as her eyes opened wide. **"TWO DOORS DOWN THE HALL TO YOUR _RIGHT!"_** Anna knew their cover had been blown as she threw her arms over the ebony child with her grip tighter than a viper's bite. Roko swiftly let her claws crash against the wall as Ami was dragged by Anna off to another safe place.

"Why won't you just answer me ! You stand for truth? I was just ignored! Blatently by you- Amelia; and an honor student?! Oh, _Aammi?_ That red- headed child is trying to tear you from your _home...!~_

Ami stopped. Anna tugged even harder but found that this Ami was too weak willed to fight back.

"You cannot leave..I am your only friend...Marcus will start to _worry_ if his fiance runs off with a _**stranger!"**_

The face Roko had was of a ghoul with sunken eyes, her claws held Ami as the child was dragged backwards down the hall. "Noo!" Anna rushed after her sister as the image left her gasping for breath after the sick demoness.

 _"AMI!_ **FIGHT HER** ! _**DON'T**_ LET HER TAKE YOU AWAY FROM US! _AMIII!"_ Anna had only screamed this way..when the dragon had been involved...no..it was not going to keep her away! That damn psycho was not going to drink anyone dry like a dead bulb! Dangitt!

 **"AHH!""** Ami's arm was close, Ann grabbed it anddid not let go. Instead she let her fire scorch the demon's wrist..The other wrist still would not let Ami free...Ok...

 _~SIGNAL FLARE OF THE **CELESTIAL!~**_

A blazing light lit up the space between the two enemies. Within a ball of embers,a familiar faceas the fire- fox himself popped out. He was grinning withpower of plenty to spare.

~You summoned some extra fire power, missy?~

Ann was confused, but she had believed Kaien to have deserted them..no...he had been there..now!

 **~AFTER THAT CRAZY** _DEMON!~_ She shouted as Kaien's fox self took to the chase.

~Call to _action...Accepted!_ I'll tell ya all I have ta - my other body was back in Italy! Next stop...~

~A shut down of this **_stupid_** wonderland!~

/

Aggie was insulted. She had a show to put on and her stars were dying one by one! No..this was her day..her's! Manifesto had promised enough riches. She wanted to BE the only one!

 _~Ron?~_ Vespa in her Espeon's form ( alt realities and the like!) popped out of a portal as Ron's Jolteon( I love messing with this otaku verse!) looked up with a gasp. ~Don't scare me like **that!~** He exclaimed. ~Aggie made the contract valid. I can't stop them!-

~I guess she _was_ an attention hog after all.~ Vespa sighed and hopped out of the vortex with a graceful pat of her small toes to the shining tiles. ~V.I.P.? Had me fooled!~ She chuckled with a paw covering her mouth.

~Then what comes next?~ Ron shouted as Agatha's powers only tore down wall after wall of the building's lounge .

~Did you try getting inside her head?~ Vespa asked while the tome had vanished from sight to recollect more victims. Ron tilted his head to the side and snorted at his cousin's remark. ~I tried to talk her out of destroying the festival!~ He was angry,anxious and worried. Of course she had to rub it in..

~Not that way!~ Vespa slapped a paw across her face with a grunt. ~ You didn't heal her wounds ! You _tore_ at them! I'll take are of this, you ! Follow and remember - On my _cue!~_

~Do it _your_ way then!~ Ron huffed and bounded after his cousin with a frown. ~We aren't seeing eye to eye as it is!~

/

Aggie - G had changed her tune and was entering the main hall, her eyes starstruck and set on the crowds that had begun to gather for her biggest tribute the the masses!

"Buona Notte, we are having a great time! Everyone give a warm round of applause for...Signorina...Aaggie! G!"

It had started...Vespa crawled along the floor as her fox self. She turned to smoke and wafted in that form closer to the stage. Esma and Aggie were going to...do...a duet...DUET! !?

 _~Ron!_ I said to keep up!~ She whispered through the speak. ~Ron!? **Ronnie!~** He was not trying to insult her, quips..where had he run off to!-

"Aggie's not ok with intruders comin' to this event. **Security!"** Gar Logan was under Lao Ming's spell- they must have lost to the demon book's power!

 _~Dark whispers...~_ Vespa's spell had the green hero in a daze as he blinked to catch where the shifty fox had run off to. Pulling out a unit from his pocket,the Titan contacted hisbud Cy who was also a victim under Lao Ming's hex's effect.

"I caught her partner." Cy said through the unit on the other side of the room. Thankfully, Ron had revert to his band's lead vocalist's form to escape the queen's fury. "You are supposed ta' be up on that stage!" Cy shoved Ronald towards the main stage back stage as he didn't bother to fight with his fists or cause a scene.

"If your enemy has plans for us, I just have one thing to say to that..." He put up afinger as Cy paused to let the mutt speak .

~Hit it!~

Vespa revert to her female form of a mortal unbound. "Higher we _flyyy!"_

Aggie gasped and looked intol the crowd. She was next! This was a big mistake! Where were her body guards!

"Lao _Ming!"_ She growled under her breath and remembered the Tenkit's promise.

 ** _"Bravo!"_** Esma shouted as Cliff started to clap in theback by his equiptment. "A song for all the fans tonight! No time to sleep the night away! C'mon!"

 _"No...Aahh!"_ Aggie was being..ignored! A curse! This was not her wish! **Nononono!**

~Firelight is heating up this **stage!"** Ron cried as Esma met face to face with Vespa who was ascending the steps in her perfect attire.

~I saw a sight that made me lose _control..."_ She expected Esme to take the cue lightly enough. Esmeralda didn't hold back.

"What is going _on_ !? " Mariella was questioned relentlessly by the M.C as he looked like his hair would fall out from the scare.

"They beat us to the punch, maybe?-

 _"No!_ Aggie is losing _her_ time on _that_ stage! Go **fix** this!"

Mariella looked up a bit lost by how...wait...that!-

"You are a _fake!-_

Lao Ming let free her new guise and had the woman mortal in front of her screaming backstage like a banshee.

"Help! _**Help!**_ Intruder! Someone stop the!-

 **"Agh!"** Mariella could not fight that evil cat woman's gaze as her own body turned to lead by the Tenkit's powers.

"The show must go **on...Mraaw!"** She groomed her pretty whiskers before setting off after the dogs in another body.

"If they want a diva, let me top the mutt's performance!" Lao Ming's dress was a bit suggestive yet classic of her nation's traditional wear. This was going to blow the roof off of her competition. ~As soon as we are ready..come and eat to your heart's content..Lord Manifesto!~

/

Have to stop! We are caught up with now and the previous chapter reveals just as much. Hope you'll stick around to find out if the dogs can win with their songs alone. Or if Ami can be saved from the clutches of the nefarious daemon turned demon, Roko. And where the heck is Ava's back up crew? Aiden is on the way to stop Chris from losing himself once more are our heroes up for the ending ? As for Manifesto- you'll just have to read chapter 13 to find out more!

So read on and stay curious!


	14. Chapter 14

Teen Titans; New Generations- The Manifesto Pages- Storyteller Arc Part Two; Chapter 13: Inside a Web Of False Dreams.

/

Stuck with a bad case of Larengitis, so this is perfect for my concentration! No monkey chatter left..Sigh*.

OK! So; Ami is being kept quite by Roko in the guise of the youngest's Graysons' classmate. I mean, as well as Ann being the one to defend both she and a 'poker faced' Ami..does she have any plans up her sleeves?

/

Kaien bursts in to slow down Roko's attempts. In this instance, Ann and he work with boththeir flaring tempers combined. Ami is not the ruler of the fake Academy. Roko is, but Ami brought it into being by the demon's ability to tamper with desires and memories ofher victims. Time in interdimensional heck made Roko, the temporary stand in for Lilith - minus the yandere complexion...Scary...

As for Aiden and the gang of Titans and allies from the Eternal realm of spirit, Charl has been cut loose from the team's trail. Was he really defeated though?

As for the rest, I will gladly let you the reader, piece together the finishing chapters to come! Commence with Chapter 13! Finally!..

Chris HAD lost control...and let the wolf that was once Hati's form, thrive.

It had taken a bite of Marcus who was scrunched up in a ball on the floor, unconscious and clenching his aching stomach. Ava felt her eyes harden as they lowered with clenched fists to the cold floor.

Something in her was not ok..in Chris! He..he had failed! The room fell silent.

"I...won't make that mistake again.." Chris had revert to his human- spirit form. His eyes were tired. His hands shaking as he tried not to stop thinking of how they could heal the wolf's affliction onto young Marcus...

"A-

"I...I can't." Ava did not even acknowledge her old classmate. He had drawn blood...it had been too cruel to watch. Chris had lost control of the astral wolf and it's fangs...His...Were still somehow present. He was having troubl with the aspect's chompers, which were none so obvious as Chris's sweating, gloved palms. Was this all over between their promise? Was he ready for the...no! .

"Mistress, Isa!" Ava blinked up and saw Ayane as Lorelai Ainsley by the way she spoke to her old friend. Ava frowned. "Is his wound deep?" She asked from a distance. Lori had enough magic to close the wound with Isa's direction. She looked up towards the young woman who had tears possibly to shed later.

"Your comrade is not able in this venture. We shall have him return to the Barrens with note to Lady Alu-

"He!-

"Ava!" Lori stopped the nineeen year old from rebelling. "Isa and I will make sure he is able to continue. His spirit was in a flux...Christopher belonged to your Earth once..yet the wolf Aneiu forbade him to use his magic for long here-

"Chris? You left knowing all this?" Ava turned angrily to a now kow towing ally. He deserved every ounce of her dismay. After all, it had been his choice to lie and break another promise, a poorly kept one that would decide his fate as a spirit being.

"I was worried..-

"You took things too far and forged a bond...I...I cannot !-

"As a ruler and firstly an ally to all kin, you too Ava are to understand that not all wars are won honorably." Isa reprimanded the two teens as her eyes never left the freshly closed place where Chris had bitten an important witness. He was the one who could locate any creature connected to Manifesto.

"Then, what can we do?" Ava shook her head and said with a cracking, nervous voice. "Chris is a killing machine- You have a culprit to save from ...dying? And I am not good for anything !"

"Ava! Princess!" Chris this time lifted his head. How he had rocked her defenses before, Isa knew this was better than moping. Chris hugged her as he dashed over, just like old times...the two of them had been so close. Her tears never came as the boy did the crying for his highness instead. She was unable to move, as if trapped somewhere inside time and space. A secret place that had been long forgotten...

They had been the best of friends...

"You...you are still Ava! The Ava the Chris I was..he still remembers..he wasn't brave...He was a coward too...But I promised to die for you and ONLY YOU! You, are the missing piece of Chris's memory...I cannot thank you enough..If I must go, then please.." He left her as the fading embrace of two individuals died right then and their. That aura, that glow had left her cheeks as soon as the first biting of a winter storm's heavy whipping winds - Ava was no snow queen, but perhaps she could be more. Ann hadlooked at the teen as if Ava was not her sister any longer. Aiden had lived in denial as well. Ami...what did Ami ever think?

"I don't want to be alone on the battlefield." Ava flung her arm out and grabbed Chris's left hand , squeezing it tightly within her gloved ones. "You promised so ...As princess!" Ava declared this as soon as a vortex had opened up behind the five figures. "Ah! That'll have to wait for now!" Isa had Kaede reappear from her resting spot in the shadows.

~Another uninvited guest?~ The litany grunted before extending her own sacred relic or weapon. ~We are not yet ready to face them!~

/

Ava did feel her heart patter about as Chris still held his Princess's hand with dignity. This was a test. He would not make any more -

"Howdy, crowd of- Oh...Dang! They trashed my lab?..Agh!" A rather antagonistic remark, though it was true.

From the portal came three figures. Cecilia Daia, Shoji Takahara , and surprisingly, Astarte as her good ole' warrior self.

Shoji 'looked' relaxed enough, until the real trouble had been revealed right in front of the cat's own two eyes!

Verra as the spirit self came out lastly while his contracted Takahara, surveyed the scene around the few carefully.

"Dear relative!" Isa sighed and had her heart at ease by the warrior maiden's presence. For once they could both agree bygones' and all that.

"Ah! Shoji!" Ayane returned to her body as her magic continued to seal the gash on Marcus's shoulder. "Where have you been!?"

"Well..." Takahara chuckled and tugged his collar nervously. "Took a detour , visited some old friends."

"At a time like this? Well you must have looked ahead?" Isa raised a brow up to the cocky hound. Kaede from a distance too nodded in agreement.

~Yes, what was the other side's complaint towards all of these affairs?~ She asked with her stance no longer held so stiffly against the lab's lone wall.

"Uncle Shoji." Ava smiled back then revert to her way of an investigative journalist like her comrades had.

"Any word ? What was your reason for going anyway! We thought you were bumping arms with the Pope in-

"Nope, a trap on the Shifter kid's part. All of it to pull us apart like freshly risen dough. Sigh..That I never got to do!"

Shoji slapped his face as if he'd lost a bet hands down..The cat was thinking of his latest suppertime menu! Impossible..

Ayane frowned and got up to stretch . The floor was no place to idle. They had destroyed most of the equiptment, and in the blast...Manifesto had still won the war for now.

"Aiden is on his way, I understand?" Cici asked as her eyes were not so golden from where her allies stood as those words tumbled from the priestess's lips.

"He and the Titans, Glen and Henry. They gave their all..Aw, but Poor Piper.."

"Piper was in charge?" Ayane exclaimed as her next plan was to drain every kept secret from her boss's lips. He had too many to count!

"Say, who's the..oh! You have gotta be pulling my leg!" Astarte laughed as her eyes saw the face one she recalled from Lord Raku's shortly lived past . "Sir Borgges' child was the mastermind?"

"Marcus?" Chris blinked and looked to the goddess for a response. "How did you know who that was ? What history do you two have-

"The dragon in his youth before turning, " Astarte began with a toss back of her long braides over her shoulders. "Was a student who attended the same Academy as THIS child!"

"Whoa." Verra was sure he'd been around late in the pup Shoji's two- timing life, yet they gaped exactly as a pair of startled twins. "What!?"

"Yep, and he had a desire to have a djinn as a trophy. A damned shame that young Borgges boy never learned...But what should you expect from a late pact holder, and one under thee strix, Lady Lilu?"

"Double, whammy!" Verra shouted .

Ava was confused though had thought that she had heard of the Forgotten myth, once upon a time. Her connection to Lady Reia must have still lived on into this new era. "Then, he is just ...what are we supposed to do? He may not even be worth-

"We were in the realm of the spirit weaver of identities, lies...places untold." Cici spoke this as her cloak breezed across the floor without making a sound. "Ava, Ayane, and my allies to this time." The priestess of the lunar sect bowed with a graceful flow of her full black skirts.

Astarte turned to Shoji and snapped. "Is she able to be trusted here?" The dessert's earliest goddess was worried since no one had yet broken the news about the Chosen's mix- up. Hecate had not been her quiet, solitary self ..

Shoji nodded to each one of those anxious faces . "She is for team sane and safe. We talked and it turns out that Cici was not on the council's good side. She even helped to lead Catherine away from her pursuers."

"Catalina!" Isa gasped. "Is the Lady still well? You were able to meet her in Rome?"

"Yes and we butted heads like always. Cathy still has not aged a day. Looks like she and Cici are commited to their happy cult for life-

"Ow!" Cecilia whacked the taller adult upside his skull with an astrally made tendril. " But that's true!" He protested with a groan. "You don't agree?" Cici huffed and continued what Shoji had forgotten to mention.

"Marcus is unconscious. It may be a risky undergoing, yet if you were to turn him as our guide from within a dream."

Chris jumped in - as if this were not serious enough an ordeal.

"You are risking the mental conditions of...this criminal unto all of us! Why should he need to trust another when his bond was!-

"I'll do it." Shoji raised his hand as Verra looked dumb, back into the con- man's brown eyes. ~Are you shitting us!? What are you gonna do? Go k!-

"Don't." Takahara knew that his inner spite was...untame at best...But never such an insensitive and baseless comment. It was also not relavent. Well, as far as Shoji had his beliefs where he'd still been a miserly corporate grandson, but that did not matter here! He tried again to explain with an intake of breath.

"One other can make it into Marcus's messed up little mind. Chris? Your astral wolf-

"I won't have any!-

"Chris!" Ava was still clutching his sweating palms in her's. "Please don't worry...You didn't..you didn't know...And I am sure Isa and Alue can understand...It was a mistake, he wasn't himself."

"What?..Oh, I.. am totally confused, sorry!" Shoji scratched his skull as if there had been a love triagle reveal without the rest of Ava's team.

"Chris." Ava looked deeply into her friend's grey eyes. "Go with Uncle Shoji. He won't let you turn into someone other than the Chris I want fighting by my side..Ok?" Her face almost contorted at bit as if to fight back a meaningless sob. Chris knew that his reply meant too much. He squeezed Ava's gloved hands and replied with a grin like her little brother's, " You can count on us returning in one full piece. I won't leave you again to wait ...I'd hate to see you cry over me, don't quite smiling.."

"Silly..sniff!* I cry for the ones that I love...You are a part of that circle and always will be...so, go! Stop time from moving forward. " She let go with her hiccuping voice. Ava's sorrow was a strain for the grey eyed teen to take in. Her lavender eyes were still warmer than a first frost, even if Ava dubbed herself a fully- fledged snow queen. Her allies knew better than to think such a thing could change Ava from who she was underneath that crystalline exterior. Noble and brilliant as a towering moonbow in the sky... A new tomorrow awaited that promise.

They both let go to finally part ways. As for now, the two hoped their feelings could last again into the future.. Chris returned by Ava's casting to the form of the astral wolf as the wo threw on temporary masks to hide away their fears.

~I won't be long with Shoji and I working as a team. ~ The wolf had Chris's voice. Not Hati's..Ava could have leapt for joy had her feet not been feeling still like blocks of cold lead.

~Then into that boy's unconscious mind you go...~ Cici's eyes lit with the gold that had her known by the council as a threat. Law and order was never separate. Even when Charl had thrown the faction's heads this way and that, Cici was still one for that special answer herself.

That was because, she enjoyed watching many tragedies in their latest forms...as countless expressions, hopes, feelings that she no longer could feel could come alive on the stage that was the present..

All of that did not exist for Cici however. Thanks to the pact with the Widow of space time, Alicia was no longer a burden...Yes..she and Shoji had gone on quite a journey within the deadworld far from the eyes of the living, just to help Cecilia Daia to break from her hidden demons for good..

She had quieted her thoughts, not yet unlike the great vassal to be of Hecate, yet Lady Cecilia had a role to play till the very end.

~Shoji never stopped believing in my redemption taken form.~ Her breathing evened as the spell had the two warriors floating about the room. A new , smaller vortex opened up around the spot where Marcus's brain was presently in a comatose state.

~Illusions...Be Broken! Allow us Passage within the fallen.. !~ Her eyes had Kaede shield her own two with both of the kitsune's long sleeves.

~Suurender thy will to theee! Now!~ Cici had all just finished as Chris and Veravakumu ( not Shoji) entered the mind of their latest enemy. Though, was the boy really just a victim all along?

/

Aiden felt a tremor from below his feet. Something had gone off. He turned to Dami who had been behind the blonde seventeen year old. "Did you hear something?" Aiden asked in a low voice. His hair rose up. Was it getting kind of-

"Blizzarding Bearers upon the Son Loki's Wrath! Dear gods..brr, I do feel drafty!" Glen noticed it too with a great big shiver of his broad frame. Aiden looked to Zan this time. She had helped earlier in konking a few drones...but then...was the building deserted!?

"I think we should go on ahead." Aiden returned to Dami again who tried to dissect the issue as the team walked on down the empty hall. "Why? We aren't near any crazy demons. What are you guys talking-

"Ah!" Zan felt it as well as her feet soon frozen on the spot. Wait?

"I can't move!..Glen!"

Glen was used to the cold, though this ice was supernatural. As in, not a storm one fae- frost giant smithy could handle the way he did his homeland.

"Wake up Henry!" Dami instructed Meyers quickly. "Aiden? You and I can help out Zatara before things get-

"It's melting?" The ice was , but the hall felt like the team had stepped into a sauna...No!

"Gotta be the damned demon book!" Glen grunted as he fell to one knee . "Snow...was easier...Damn!"

"Man down!" Aiden exclaimed as he tugged the big lug to move onwards..no..he was fading from the temperature flux! From ice cold to hot as Davey Jones's locker! Glen would not make the journey..

"Ok! I heard all of you! We have to move! There! The hall is up ahead..Zan! Create a barrier so we won't get cooked...!" Dami shouted this rather as a demand while the team recollected themselves from the floor- which had become a bed of hot coals from Glen's perspective.

"Aleady on that request! A ' please ' once again you owe me three times over." The dark haired sorceress waved her arms up as a spell poured right from her nearly parched lips. ~Radiate! ~

The heat was reflected by what looked to be the projection of a giant lens of clear liquid. As if they were safe under the microscope ...

"Plasma?" Dami cocked a crooked brow over the team's flustered heroine and Titan. "It works with a touch of magic...I'll be charged up later! But right now..We cannot wait ! "

"Fine! Let's go you guys !" Dami had the team follow him as he trudged on ahead. Aiden followed second with Zan further in front beside her fellow Teen Titan Robin. Glen kept up as Aiden did what he could until Zan added with her power an extra lift. Thankfully, Henry was unharmed and had just started to awaken from his mini- coma.

"Dear kings of olden Avalon!...Oh, Friend Glen! You are plastered with sweat right down to your boots! What happened back on the rooftop-

"Aw, pal...We can talk er' some later- kay?" Glen slurred a bit until the team saw from the end of the hall an employee restroom. "What luck!" Henry thankfully had recovered while his allies still had a long ways to go.

"Ok, drink from the sink if you must and we can continue from here on. " Zan was not going to worry yet. Though the crashing, rumbling sound seemed to only grow louder with each turn down a new wing.

Wing...Aha!

"The lab is close!" Zan gasped and saw on the wall a directory. Had they passed a few on the way- Wait! The location was ground floor basement! This was..

"Fourth floor! " Dami stomped his foot in protest. "Agh! This doesn't make any sense! We were just on the first floor. We did NOT go upstairs! I know what...The book...!" He snapped his fingers and peered down the hall they'd just come out from.

Robin's eyes turned as a switch had instantly turned on from within the teen's brain. He excitedly in a frantic move swerved around. Dami connected his eyes to meet the sight of the NEXT hall. "We are...We are! This is the inside.. The inside of a MAZE!"

The restrooms ..? Then...! -

Dami poked his head into the male's side, then into the other - he had no need to be reluctant. These were his allies, and after all they'd been through...Zan had not gone in, he sighed out in relief to that.

She was..no.. She'd been just about to before he pulled her arm to reconsider. Zatara was left in a panic once again, as she stared angrily up at her companion.

"This whole place is a channel of hidden portals . They aren't there!" Dami shook his head by what he had discovered. Magic..not the good kind. Zan was in shock only briefly before she took those words to heart and replied back in a perplexed tone.

"What?.."

Dami wanted to slap his own face when he'd heard it.

He had to have Zatara convinced, good job as she let her eyes fall onto the teen, her frazzled partner. . A multi- world maze of mayhem. It alomst did have that perfect ring to it for a certain tome to be particularly satisfied with its 'latest work.'(Word pun in there. Book and plot, hah.)

The doors to the restrooms shut as if a ghost had the team cornered once more. Zatara and Robin jumped by the loud. bang* of the doors being locked up tight from one slamming motion after the next.

Zatara gasped before realizing that this was not their best luck. "Oh no! The others then!?" She looked around to catch where the magic trail was coming from. Nothing. She stared back into Robin's masked eyes.

"Then, Aiden and...They aren't-

"No.." Dami turned away, he'd seen something form from within the darkness down the next hall. Zan tried to keep up with his intuitive moves next,. The Shifter imp's cluster of butterflies had brought a nold enemy back from the dead. He was sure,they had to flee so that Zan could recharge...

/

"Run!" The two flew down the hall where the group had entered ...the cold and hot...that was it!

"Zan!" Dami panted asthey ran from the moth and blue butterfly flurries. "The cold temperature was from a cryogenic freezing chamber! And the hot wa-

"We were being roasted by this place in an industrial sized oven.. Yup.. Got it!"

She ran and grabbed her partner with a tug into mid air. "We have to break the illusion! I am going to try out my magic against its defenses! You have to jump when I tell you!"

Dami looked up at his partner with his mouth agape, astonished by the idea of separating too soon.

"You have got to be joking!" He shouted over the clip clip* sounds of the invertabrates' wings. (typo?)

"I'm not. Sorry!" Zan was going to drop him..and then what!? No time...he was going to be lost alone inside a crazy book's ' scaling impenetrable(typo) mazes for dummies!'

"Find the others! Track them by heat sensor or something since this IS the future! Just...JUMP!"

He didn't have a choice. The ebony hero rushed against what felt like tiny pins barely breaching the skin. That prickle was the barrier- Zan could not cross it in time.

l /

Ami was staring in a daze. Just until her eyes had closed with a weary expression did her older sister see what definitely plagued the youngest Grayson child.

"Ami!" The evil laughter of Roko was back as she had used her magic to envelope the school hallway into a pitch black empty realm within space and time. Was this the real identity of the so-called academy? Ann grither fists and readied to attack with Kaien in his fox form by her side. Ami wasbeing manipulated by the aspect of envy and desire from Raku's earliest beginnings...

~I was a fool to have believed you to be a team player.~ Roko was trying to take over this..voidless mass of empty atmosphere! She was not going to have that one wish however.

Ami now dangled by what looked to be spider web thin cords. Roko stood beside the child as her mask had once again covered the evil aspect's grinning facade . An illusion though it was , yet Roko was entirely if not almost ready to lose herself to a tantrum. Her mind was unstable. This did make for a perfect opening - though in vain as this attack plan would require someone bold enough who could outrun a rioting demon .

Kaien's fire fox self would have been the perfect choice. Anne however was still only a mortal even by her god- given abilities. She could not heal herself gradually so well like Ami or Ava by the use of spells and occult magic. Ann was more so grounded to the present and now she had to decide what would best work to the duo's advantage in stopping Roko's time here, within this disarray called Neverland.

Roko did not age so it was almost as if pent up emotions of the past had literally stunted her growth. Ann would have laughed to herself over the joke, though it held so much truth to it instead. Roko was once one with the red dragon. Yet she and Rokou had been duel gender opposites. Rokou was the masculine version that was more so attuned to the dragon's son Richard Noburo.

Roko was the female counter self that had fled the land of Raku's birth. She remained to resemble his disguised self in the lower realms of spirit Sumeria as a cross dresser on a night that had broken the mighty dragon in his youth. (wattpad story. very dark .) Ann did not know if she recalled this by the late battle with the dragon, or by the Phoenix's abilities that burned her every strand to reveal each truth. She now kept her head held high up so much, that taking down Roko meant not pitiying the fallen. Not as her father had thought possible, he had not erradicated the beastly aspect by the guardian's written laws. Now, Ami had to suffer by the man's terrible judgement.

"Roko, you just made a mess of this whole time...We could have just been...You are so gone outta' here, sister!"

Anna sent fire from her staff which helped in manifesting her own burning magic. Kaien in the meanwhile, jumped ahead and rushed into the stunned Roko- still taken slighly aback by the red headed girl's rude comments.

She wasn't that threatening, just a pest. Roko was in her guise of a red, black and white spandex clad villainess. (typo?)

Her eyes were red as well , glowing in the dark as the walls closed her in with Ami still victim to the demoness's illusion.

"S..si...-

~ Miss Ami.. Don't move!~ Kaien growled out as he lept back out in front of the enemy with his eyes twice as fired up. ~Inferno collision!~ It was just a warrior's chant. But by far, it left a blinding light behind it with the blast. Roko's eyes were tunned just long enough to sneak past the monster's glaring pupils.

"Cannot..see! Dooog!" The miss's claws extended as her power over the man - made darkness set off a trap. Slimy tendrils attacked Kaien in his fox form as he dove to swiftly escape the monstrous things in mid-air.

"un...cle..." Ami was falling back into a slumber ...one that would leave her lost to the ones she knew. Kaien was able to hear just what Amelia had uttered. It tore apart of his flame lit heart to bits upon hearing that title.

As an ...Uncle, he was as much a part of their lives as Verra or Ron now...Even Isa! He had to save poor Ami from this madness..

~Uncle is coming ta' getcha! So don't sleep it off just yet!~ The fox blasted the tendrils, adding more time for the light to penetrate the demon's view as Roko haplessly searched for a way to clear her own, weakened vision. Sunspots were one thing, being blinded longer than advised was another. The fox and his companion would pay dearly if her eyes needed a fixing ...

"Storm of dark shadows!" Roko could not be beaten here. The attacks increased as the tendrils turned to woody, frighteningly large vines. Ann ducked as one tried to hit her staff. Roko shouted again and made the middle child gasp aloud.

"Seek out and destroy...The one connected to the golden phoenix's light!"

Ann was suspect of that! Kaien could not be in two places...The fog of dark shadows moved close to the ground. Poisonous fumes came out of its covering, frightening poor Anna as she flung up a forcefield to shield herself .

"Please Kaien!" She shouted over the howling swirls of dark miasma energy. "Save Ami! I will..cough..*..Will be..ok!"

~To what end should THAT bring!?~ Kaien exclaimed as he slashed a vine with his still powerful claws. ~Ye be in danger! Ami will not forget!~

He did the dumbest thing and tried to attack the mini miko's mind by looking inside it. There, another was in fact present and ataring back coldly. One whom had scared poor Kaien as Anna watched Ami turn from one face to another...

"Lady Amelia."

~It..was a trap all along! ~

Kaien pulled a slight back, baffled by the sight of another aspect besides that of his one newest relative...no...

His charge had been afflicted by someone's cruel curses untold! This wasn't so! Not a bit of it!

"Who is sh..she..cough cough!*..." Anna grit her teeth as her throat started to breathe in the foul scent of a dangerous amount of poison.

"We are the same person." Amelia clarified. Ami returned only by her eyes, yet she did not show any signs that this was the wrong thing to have done...why had she turned to the aspect at all?

Her regrets were pitiful. Her judgement perhaps worse than her father's.

"It was to save you guys when I got sucked up by Manifesto...I made a deal with him that he wouldn't harm...But you broke that promise!-

"Did I?" Roko raised a set of fingers and snapped them as her eyes too snapped open.

Anna looked around. It wasn't real? The school was back, the hall had been deserted..nothing had changed..

"Ami, you are free to go back if you think I won't try to harm the Chosen again. It is predestined of we daemon to do so. "

~So you are not on anybody's side?~ Kaien exclaimed as the tendrils turned to dusty vapors between his tiny jaws.

"Ami was in this bargain for your sake, but for Manifesto's pact to hold as well. It was so that YOU could defeat him if you tried...If you lose though to the born again tome's craft, she will stay here with me. Or with you since you'll be trapped here for a good long while as well." Roko added this with a strange grin. As if advertising in a sleezy commercial.

"I hate surprise tests, but that was just sly." Anna got up onto her feet and dusted off her attire. All but finding that her lungs had entirely cleared of the toxic gasses from that evil illusion. At least those places were forbidden to the spirit folk..

"I'll make my next plans clearer for you, how about I send you a friend request too? I am a demon. A bad bad personality born from the endless suffering from within another life and era. "

As if that were true. The demoness loved to make you squirm in the most obnoxious manner possible. Ann groaned as if this prudent demon was her worst nightmare to boot.

~Save that sarcasm for comedy hour up on Olympus, darlin'!~ Kaien shiffed by how Roko had a duel edge to her blade..interesting.

"Did you come to help Marcus? Or Manifesto?" Anna demanded an answer as the clock was five past six in this world.

"Manifesto, of course." Roko smiled to herself. "The boy was just a project..I revived him you see..By way of Lil's influence. Her power is not my own, I had to ...Absorb the safer parts in order to make it to the dog's lovely laboratory. How would I have scared poor Lori and the rest like I had?!"

~You've become a trickster in another life. Or you'll be branded one if ya' keep ruining the time line- making a mess of the rest o' the prophecy..That was you?~ Astonished, Kaien could not take in all he had heard very literally. The real puppet master, ring leader of the tome..was the bratty demoness, Akane?

Roko had seen the time as well. She tapped Amelia on the shoulder to reply to the girl, letting her enemies hear the conversation as well.

"Ami? I have to go and help Aggie. She wanted to become a world wide sensation. Oh, but she's lost so much in the way of opportunities...So sad." The demoness looked up at the two pouting with her lips in a cute frown , Kaien and Anna still had their weapons at the ready if the demon could start fires. She was a very sloppy villain in fact.

"Aw, sorry I can't bring those who make a pact with Manifesto." Roko's expression xhanged to pity , her eyes wide and innocent as a school child's. "I saved him so, he owes me! And also, he collects free will. That's right! I bet Agatha is his latest victim anyhow. She lost control long ago..poor baby.."

More tricks. Anna cleared her throat as her mouth felt dry in the presence of THIS mean girl.

"You only see their pain as a big joke. What do you mean by..Free will? Is that why you mentioned a mask!?" Anna spat out.

"Anna, sweetie." Roko's voice deepened alittle as she responded cooly. "I have a soul that has seen horrors since the beginning of time. And no. The mask was a metaphor if you turned by Manifesto's pact like your sister. The truth however, is that everyone in the book lost to his contract - fame, desire, abundance, good fortune. They all are now shadows within this next life..This one being their last. You would have to give up something precious in order to escape. But that my dear, is not going to save you today."

Roko started to dissolve into what looked like water droplets. An easier way to have her persuers give up the chase.

"What do you mean!? We are not stuck! Get us out right now or I'll just destroy!-

Roko chuckled as mist started to collect where her legs had been.

~Here is a hint! I like games...Guess this riddle; You can write on me, you can give to me a part of your memories daily, you have the ability to open and close me...What am I?"

"No!" Ann shouted and shot fire flares into the dispelled vapors. Her eyes were now brimming with tears she'd never meant to shed.

"This isn't!-

It was too late as Roko soon vanished with the trickle of a droplet of rain being the last the heroes saw.

~She's gone!~ Kaien became worried more so for his charge as the rain had never left Anna's storm cloud. ~ Calm it down now, Anna!~ Kaien shouted as the red head finally broke down onto her hands and knees and wept bitterly against the school's hard wood floorboards.

"Ami..he got to you...but Manifesto can kiss it! He's just a bunch of loose paper ...a fake...no..no..sniff!*" Kaien had tried to help. Yet he was a terrible father. Not as Apollon, yet that was one reason he had left Ron and Aria behind.

Ann had to regroup her thoughts. Ami was still ashamed of herself, but she knew how to get out of the book. Her inner side had told her that. Amelia, could definitely be the key to getting home.

/

Agatha was a star on her feet, bleeding out music that she'd never sung before in all her time as an Earth girl.

~Right now, I recalled the time that you and I were close...But by now, I call to you, to see right through it all!~

Esme left her voice to spook the audiences a bit as she stepped ontothe stage from an unknown, closed space in the void. Forbidden, yet useful for shows like this one.

~We, were something greater, we were just a team. Loved you like my family, gone a second with out askiiing...As you fell from my eyes and I cried to the stars...~

~Oh oh oh...~

~You leapt after my heart , still won't let it go, no matter whaat!~ Vespa howled as fans clapped by her new dress being something unparelleled (typo) by far to either daemons' own.

Esma rotated in after Vespa's turn.

~We came together, too soon. I showered kisses under the moon,and hoped you would see...this is the time we had that forever will bee...~

Aggie picked up after Esma's turn. ~It was a night to recall...we tried to catch a thousand stars. We laid down to watch them fall. And then, I was yours...~

~Now you turn down the lights real low...I can bearly see...You single face from that window. As I walk on by ...~

Esma warmed up to the part again. ~Please don't look that way at me! I was true, but you just decided that day, that together was too soon..! We were a team unbranded. We were two shining moons. Such words can be dramatic, don't lose that side of you!~

Vespa was next as she let her magical voice ring loud.

~Our time was not a mistake,we were simply meant to be- So don't take my picture down and call it a memory!

~Oh, ohh!~ The chorus looked to be having loads of fun. Esma made it so to prevent Aggie's magic from reaching the mortal singers in the background.

~We were nothing more than song birds up on high- you were my shield and sword, and I, your special lullabye...~

Esma's soft, sweet notes noted her age perfectly as the youngest of the group.

Vespa took over with a lower drone in her tone. Something powerful was coming.

~Why did this battle rage on? Some things are meant to be, then if your song is my own- why not make historyyy!~

Aggie jumped in with a tinkerimg musicbox sound to slow the pace just in time. They had the crowds already swaying with such emotions, tears even!

~Be-cause you and I know..that time marches on...We said good bye and, I'll be sure to... make this our love song..~

~The time we had is left here, broken up and torn. My eyes are surely wet with tears..being so forelorn. ~

Vespa jumped in to send chills up the men and womens' spines with something only a metal mama could give...

~And that is what you'll find if you are to...find...true...love...~

"Bravo! Encore! Aggie! Aggie!" The front row talked first these were magical divas with the power to liberate or entice their guests. Aggie played the good child for now. She still had a lot more coming to her yet.

The fake M.C was replaced with Mariella who took on his form so that Lao Ming could strut her stuff. Apparently, Manifesto did not trust Aggie. It was a good thing too! Ming was the perfect one to send her rival packing!

"Im- press-ive! Whoa! Did you see them, ladies and gents? I was certainly awe - stricken by THAT performance! And to let you know that the night is still not over yet-

A vibrant strand of golden fluttered down from the ceiling. "Next on stage ...after a long hiatus from the spot light...An old star who knows that we all came out to see..."

~So lengthy, he must be drunk or something.~ Aggie sniffed while Vespa and Esme eyed their curious, younger enemy intently.

~Should we proceed?~ Esma asked through the mind speak. Vespa just shook her head as a no, it wasn't time to true faces to the audience.

~We have to see if this is friend or foe firstly, Ron is supposed to-

"His last attempt was a song...'Aerial divide' back in Australia? Oh! The contender was in fact from a pop group that had faced off in that same competition of the it' trend of the season...well! They are back and we thought this would be pretty interesting for all of you out there tonight to hear!"

"What? Is that cat really!?-

"Annnd! A duet? Wow, how funny ...well!" The fake M.C shrugged as a few signs of amusement came as bouts of laughter. He made a face only a mother could love as the clown continued to dance to this tune regardless ( even if it was a spell Mariella was under to 'look like' the M.C.)

"I cannot deny a request when the event is only getting stronger! Here they are!" With a sweeping wave of his right arm, the acts were introduced with much applause.

"A spell, it has to be, Cliff!" Esme whimpered so that only her team could understand the shortest pup's plight.

"A dress that looks pretty ...Whoa! Is she really here for us all tonight!-

"Don't be silly!" The maiden wore a hi fang style dress that had more so been altered to fit today's marketable fashion. She didn't doll herself up in lots of make up. Yet her weapons were hidden in plain sight. As hairpins and with her claws, she could simply rip the foxes from one another as they sang their 'hearts out.' No one would understand with the theatrics so far that an assault had been attempted...

"Keep up, that's all I ask?" She swiftly landed beside Ron as he'd just popped his head out from behind the curtain. (Metaphorically speaking of course.)

"Ok! Have you had enough waiting out there!" It seemed to go on in waves as people assumed by her looks and the spells cast that night, that newcomers would make their day. Demons, Daemon, dogs, cats..who was the culprit?

"Slap one beat for me, Clem-

"Sayin' hola to those lovely fans tonight! Then..yeah...You got it, let's bounce!" Trying to be cocky but cute at the same time, the guitar in the back served its purpose for front man Ron - his band had since lost contact ...Now, he was nothing more than a loner.

"We...aren't so different, we bite and we claw to the top, it's how we interact.~ He let the guitarwork its magic too, but Ron still had a voice as the god apparent of lightening.

"You fuss and fight- up all night while I...try to navigate the waves I feel from you tonight..."

One thing, they were not using magic at all to sing. Ron knew that it was possible, he'd mix it up a little later.

Lao Ming stayed back as the chorus with her somber sounds as transient as a wakeful morn on a rainy day.

"Here I promise, that nothin' can change. We twist and we reach as the air in our lungs expands - I let out a painful. gasp..."

Lao Ming had fire in her blood as the music turned to something ancient. Perhaps more grounded than any Earthen sounds so far from her competitors . (A sia vibe into this, collabing with some perfect specimen yada yada..Still never gets old enough.)

"So let your hands UP! We've got work to do. Oh, hey well then , diss me with that attitude. One two three, gimme one. More. Timme - eh!...And lose it all , the larger they fall, you get up and dance for your material life. For it, to continue to go on...What you had was something untrue to me and y~ ou! Oh- I was there just hopin' you gave half of a - cryin' shame! Nu - no!

Ron jumped back in to cut Ming short of an encore. ~Who's to bla~ me? You pick up your life and just move on uh-on! "

"Oh- oh oh oh oh- H~Ey! Live your life runnin' round in circ~les!- Ron was cut off as a new singer entered the picture. Vespa was hoping to battle ( pokemon reference due to counterpats of infinite worlds theory being the elemental guardians' own. )

"You've seen my room and I've seen you~rs..Doesn't mean you gotta' stray off course-

"Well, fool me a little or a hundred tiimes, I couldn't really give a di~me! eh eh! " Esme jumped in seeing how they were competing to put Lao Ming in her place. Battling it out like old times!

"Let's have one more break.. just sit back down- with me. I will make you something that super swee~t!" The dumb add in was all Ming as she tried to get closer to was in her way the most right now.

"This is no joke , you cut it out...right about now it's about to go down - N~o!" Ron swat at a tendril Ming had conjured to attack the dog while others could not see it. Vespa's eyes grew cold..This was a waste of time. She was just playing a fake role anyhow.

As terrible as the squabble had gotten,the music made Ron's ears bleed. Too many added words were being inserted. He was just undercver!

"Dancin' our dance like we don't even care- put a little effort into pushin' me down!"

Uh oh...

Aggie threw in those words as the sorceress's eyes started to glow a ghoulish white.

"Fire em' all! Break down a wall! He didn't owe me anything at a~ ll! Push and shove- show em' that love! Hold your enemy's heart in those s~Iiights!"

"Attack!" The crowd turned into a single minded mosh pit, then a reinactment of a saloon gone off the..no more slang!

"You got your wish, priestess!" Ming swiped out her weapon closest to her in reach and went after Aggie instead. Ron was left to watch the events...and it made him furious!

~Lightening landing to earth...Now crash a thousand barriers!~

His Elemental force had the dog turn back into his Raikou godly self.

~You can let your powers take care of those two!~ He announced to his relatives in a booming voice.

~Time to let loose, Cliff!~ Esmeralda won out with her display of a sprite to the wild waters other home world- she then swapped forms in a romantic entry as a normal sized girl cupid- Aphrodite however did not have pink hair and sugar coated eyelashes.

~Clifford? It's just about time!~ The cherub Esma was not as reserved and pretended to mosh while overlooking the other guests. She whipped out a 'Heartbreak arrow' with her fingers holding to the air as if playing the magical god's lyre.

Cliiford rolled his eyes and let the earth shake. His feet stomped before the energy came ten fold as a green dred wearing warrior. Butmore so for the modern era with a tan bomber jacket, kick ass boots and that dashing grin. He wore a bandana with the emblem of his earthen rites. ~Can't say Baccus is in me? But this one sight I have gotta add some noise ta'!~ He beat what looked to be an invisible drum as the arrow in Esma's grip was ready to launch full of powerful heart-wrenching energy.

~Awayyy!~ Playfully, Esme let the arrow bolt off and hit Lao Ming , who never had a great shot in causing an immortal to lay down her life.

~War as ..fun?...~ Vespa shook her head while using a hypnotic beam to revert the concert hall goers - They were stuck?

~My spell is too good to lose!~ Aggie laughed as she ran ff with a tiger Gar Logan blocking the guardians' path.

~No encore for you!~ The tiger yelled as it leapt out to attack Ron who had been first up to bat-

"Anyone ring for us!?"

A blast to the door had the three; Raven, Starfire, and Nightwing ready to rock their way after the culprit..what was Ming doing on stage?

"An encore, is?..."

"No time to applaude her disappearing act." Raven pointed in mid flight to the zombie crowds as Esme tried her hand with a voice that quieted...Just like in Portugal that time...

~You have a heart..then let it know...You are the one , to set it flowing...The fire dowsed, you eyes will close..I am here, to see this to the bitter end...~

"Song...enchantment magic?" Raven had question marks above herhead , metaphorically speaking.

"Just like the sea woman , Aria..only...Much more adorable!" Kori swooned over the cute cherub's powerful notes.

The pink haired Esma blushed and seemed modest compared to her cousin Aria, even more so she was not one to boast when it came to beauty. That did not save lives!

"Oh! I am nothing like the sea cow! You can count on me to make this wave swaay!~ Her wrists extended to sent shivers down the heroes' spines.A flash of light and harmony had the guests that night in better spirits. The spell had ben broken without using too much force. Esme had Cliff pull out his imaginary drums again to fuel her powers.

~Bridge be reborn! Down that path you will find the crying sorceress! Go!~ The maiden nereid shouted this before she became trapped, she had to sing to keep the spell going. "We'll be ok!" Cliff reassured the Titans and two remaining guardians.

"Stop-

~Raarw!~ Changeling dropped his weight onto Ron who tried to hold back his own shock attacks.

~Hey! It's me! Quit being a real-

"Garfield!" Starfire twisted out of the mindless mass to swim up towards the air- her wings were all but weightless it seemed. "I will-

"No unauthorized entry... Allowed past this point!" Cy shot his cannon as his place was to defend the witch backstage.

"Him too?" Vespa dodged a glare from Cyborg as his cannon lit again to start from scratch. Some cooperation she had gotten...

"Take him out, but be careful! " Dick motioned towards the guardian dog feme fatale. "We don't know how to break their spell yet..So get the cat ' lady' to spill as much as possible."

Vespa nodded as if they had conversed through the speak. "Understood, no fatalities.."

As of now, reinstated and quite loyal Vespa had a contract- nothing to leave blood on her hands for once...what was the point in that however for an executioner of the Underworld?

Ami's case was grim, Anna knew it as well as the guardians did..

But for Dami and his now damaged alter ego, Robin...the fun times were never ending.

/

Zan and Robin could have walked miles- even worse! They had. And now, they could no longer aid one another whilst apart...A tragic confession never came to those lips as the crowding insects bit and tore at Robin's flesh while he looked back. Back into her crying eyes...

~Wake up!~

The smell of a dog..or was it a dream?~

Dami blinked open his weary eyes before turning his skull towards that face..a very pale one from above..

~Gods about them! Haru let you off the leash far too early.~

Kaede was in her astral form as a fox hybrid woman, staring and frowning over the supposedly unconscious child in her arms. ~Titan or outsider? You look to be both by my understanding of you humans and 'identities.'~

He brushed the kitsune's arm away as she chuckled to herself over the prodding. Sigh..* Oh, her own antics. Another official reason why Amaterasu had chosen her over Haru..She knew how to get under a person's skin the most.

"Where...Zan!" Dami sat up and gasped awake. "Where are those butterflies? Their owner has Zan and..my team.."

He brought a palm to his temples and grunted in frustration. "I have to find a way back to the fourth level...they could still be!-

~I just saved your hide from those, ugly familiars!~ Kaede snarled to the brat as he'd clearly lost himself to an overwhelming feeling of desperation. ~Your friends are safe, you have to calm yourself down first. Ava sensed you were in danger and I personally volunteered. ~ The fox sounded proud, even after having gone awol in a power struggle for Lady Amaterasu's favour.

"Then, you go with me if you care so much!" Dami shot back to the pompous pooch. She looked back at him with a gasp as if taken aback from he having gone too far. ~I saved you! You cannot be trusted to kill yourself a second time!~ The fox protested before yanking up the boy from where he was laid down to rest, tonow stand up in a helpess wobble by his useless two legs. The bugs had left stun spores to counter the child's mobility...Kaede again had to question the teen's abilities as leader.

"Owch! Not a very courteous way to treat a victim- Where are you!-

~We have to leave. ~ Kaede said as her ears twitched by the scent of danger coming their way. ~It's close!~ Her eyes turned to cat's slits as the kitsune looked less woman and more animal with her teeth so well sharpened and pointed towards the enemy.

~I was told to keep you safe if I found each hero in such a state...It is to apologize for unofficially turning into a lackey of that evil book bearer. ~

"Marcus? The kid everyone is freaking out over!-

~Yes! And now, Manifesto has given himself freedom beyond a reader's guidance. He is a walking wish bearer without a 'contracted' to ' set him straight..Ah, as they say.~

"Tell me that's just a thought you guys came up with? He's on the loose and can grant anything..Just a wish!? Why ?"

Kaede huffed as she picked up the boy bridal style while he still had been littered with the demon's stun spores.

"Wh-

~You'll slow us both down if those demons catch up too quickly. I am making the rules for now to return us to the others.~

Dami shouted as a roar* sounded from down the hall they had only just fled from the wandering moths .

"Was that Charl again!?" He exclaimed and clung to Kaede's kimono even tighter.

~No...it was not ..I, sense that this maze is nothing but a twisting , turning diversion filled with traps. Even if there are others summoned by the Shifter imp outlaw, then we still must keep ourselves from any signs of-

"Portal! Look out!-

Dami pointed and cried out as Kaede was forced to flee from the hallway ( as if devoting her life unconditionally to the teens was nothing new in her book. )

"We..we just!" He panted as Kaede saw that the rooms they were now closest too were close to the labs below , where Shoji was fighting to win over a certain story teller's trust.

"I think I know where we are..." Damian calmed down after their feet had finally touched the ground. He was still a bit light headed though , even after their roughest landing. ~I was thinking the exact same.~ Kaede nodded.

"The directory on the first floor by the lobby said 'Testing rooms'. So this must be close to your last location before you came to get me." He told Kaede as she simply agreed while the two walked on ahead .

"By the way...Aside from my dad having Wayne Enterprises, what does Takahara corp specialize in mostly?"

~You have me on that...It is not human research by Shoji's back story with Veravakumu I was told. It was as if things here, are not as they seem to those just hoping to get to know their employer..."

"This maze isn't a part of the security by the way, is it?"

"No, not to us it should not be...why do you ask?"

"Because.."

Dami turned away and started walking over to one room's sign that read out 'TOP SECRET' in red, bold letters.

"You sure do know more than you let on, faker."

The fox's smile turned to that of a large toothed criminal. Oh, how poor Robin had been expecting a back stabbing or two on their journey!

~Charl, you didn't separate Zan for any other reason..you just are having a wicked good time eliminating us like your insects!"

Dami brought out his weapon as he waited for the demon shifter to react. The fox changed back to the brunette's gawdy self of a Parisian con artist. "Cest bon! You are a real detective from where I've stood..watching...We shifter beings were once not so evil you know! I do not know when the change occured, though human hearts today lack the sense that animals...Cannot be Earth's very guardians-even if they were their inspiration to begin!"

"Do tell?" Dami smirked and raised a brow curiously. " So you quacked up after you sold your soul or something corny like that?" Dami held his sword in hand as he'd hoped that the ex- knight would just hush up soon..

"Non, dear boy. They were banished like my lovely Nuit and Lune." The shifter's words had Robin understand enough.

Charl continued. "They were told of tales where insects were nothing but beasts! Although...Shifters were not put on that plane of spirit to eliminate all traces of human ugliness...We feed off of it! And do you know why my familiars again wish to tear up your friends? Humm? To collect that luscious despair and just to consume it all! They are simply bringing me your friends' hearts as fodder! Feelings and all that, and..So, when you leave this world, you'll be a husk.." That made Damian growl under his breath. A stupid revenge scheme?

"Ah, just as the empty cocoons of my brothers and sisters...I desire your energy in the form of MATTER! I won't stand for a NO from MY prey!"

"DAMN IT..y-you are WACKY!" Dami attacked and deflected the enemy's own swords with his swift feet hoping to land one kick. "Ungh!" Robin was his back by the punch of what looked to be a bear paw. This imp had no true off switch when it came to swapping body parts for battle.

"Hahahaha!" The evil being laughed as Robin attempted to catch himself. "My moths are hungry! Give them some blood already! We want BACK what you humans stole from us! "

The exiled lord attacked.

/

"Aaah!" Dami dragged his blade to hit and illiminate a cluster of hovering bugs. Their feelers were so close that some amount of their acidic touches could have caused the Titan to gag right there on the spot. Of course 3D monster insects freaked people out! They were so crazy scary that not even a grown adult today could stomach something so surreal.

Charl then wailed aloud in the voice of one whining of their loss. It shocked Robin a bit ashe soon quit fighting to decipher the reason, before the bugshad other plans. Ah, that grieving sense which overtook the whole battle by far...

Robin flailed and before he knew what had happened, hit one of his batterangs into a moth that looked exactly like a copy cat Nuit. Charl bawling turned to a gape as he stood shaking in horror. The disguised shifter imp raised a gloved finger a studdered angrily.

"My...my friends! You! You are a murderer...sniff*..Noo!...my...my brothers...I will GET YOU FOR THIS!" Charl summoned a wind, one that wailed along with the grieving sorcerer. He shouted out to our hero Dami as the ex- knight's grin would have threatened to split the criminal's face apart. All villains must have had that as their number one reason to have gone insane usually involved a mad cackle or two. Typical psychopath's playbook.

"DIE! DIE AND DON'T EVER HURT MY CREATIONS AGAIN!"

The wind was a whirring motor now. One that sliced walls and left marks as if it had a beast caged from within the giant wind funnel.

Damian gulped. Oh boy..Hiding his neck was going to be tricky- especially in front of THIS damned psychopath!

~OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!~ Charl shrieked as his funnel was inches from its target.

Yes, Charl was certainly one obnoxious queen of hearts after all that had gone on today. Robin rolled his eyes and dashed off just as a stack of toppling debris had made its way across the next path which read ' Elevator; Floor Basement Level 2.

A second underground, this wasn't it then! Damian put his feet to the pavement and flew far from that whirring nonesense that was nothing but a lunatic demon crying for attention. He could not believe it either but the funnel must have been fake- a false barrier meant to keep him on the ground level for good.

Robin skid around the corner and saw it. The elevator...no...It was shut down! The only way down was by the stairs. He had to run even more than he already had!? Dami slapped his face with a groan. What a way to go down screaming!

Our hero just shrugged off the fatigue and knowing that this was the only way, he had no choice but to put the demon imp in a time out..Only, once Zan found her way back...But, then did Charl really have time to go after his team? Was someone else going to be just as guilty of the crime? Were they under attack for real?

The door burst open as Damian ignored the red flags behind him, going off like flare guns one by one- as he scaled the dreary well with every ounce of courage he so possessed. All of it being tested all too soon enough..

/

Anna stood up and started on her way to the first.. Homeroom.

This school. It was creepier than she had originally guessed. No more loating doorways. Still, all of it resembled. proper hallway that was grounded to the floorboards. . Sighing, that this had to be an illusion if it could change forms so readily, Anna tried not to overthink the situation.

Had however,the school sensed something all along?

As the very fragile window into Ami's own mind, it had allowed this world TO exist in the first place. So, Ami then was..She was really doing just what she had been warned could ruin their chances by Amaterasu and the...

But why?

Anna grit her fists and ignored the fire fox Kaien's shouts in his invisible body. While in the body of a guardian 'out of sight' and mind, Ann could only use her mind speak in short bursts around the dog.

Lest they be spotted by the real cuckoo inside this fairytale gone wrong!

~Kiddo! Where ya' think ya be goin' !~ Kaien bounded after her as a fall breeze as his presence lingered against her now reddened cheeks. The red head turned around with a growl and could have cared less for anyone to have heard just then her angry rants. Instead,she mind spoke with the blubbering fox.

~You didn't stop anyone! I was useless too! Go! Go look for another way out! I don't care!~ The teens in separate..Wait..Teens? The red headed heroine looked around her. Everyone was in high school now! The book HAD changed..Which meant..Ami!

~Shoot..Kaien! I'm coming too!~ She dashed off after his fast feet. She'd even left her locker for anyone to open without so much as trying to break in. Anna was not a part of this world- then why had Ami changed it so drastically along with her own age and appearance? Was she really for 'team; heroic return to the present?'

The only thing she noticed was that she had a pony tail like before, like how Ava used to wear her's in her last year of middle school. Anna turned around to look behind her, only to bump into someone who threatened her daily life as it was. A bully, great..

Anna groaned softly, looking up at the older student's...tie? Ann looked around her to find that she had not been by the youngest Grayson's locker but by another high school prefect's with an older complexion than Ava's immortal body.

Poor Anna unconsciously blurted out what she could, hoping to weave past this angry faced punk quickly "Sorry!-

"What the heck is your problem, new kid?" Yup, older and a total snob. Ann just ignored her possible rival and looked for anyone...Not with a pony tail and a delinquent scowl, that was for darn sure. The cool kids huffed and just let the red headed kid go. She wouldn't make it a week dodging tardy teens like herself in these halls.

Kaien had in the meanwhile easily landed in his unseen form to meet by the polished heels a tall, black haired princess with innocent blue eyes and an aura of positive energy. He almost fell to his knees right there by her inner energy. It couldn't be..

This high school girl, if it was Ami, wore more plaid and kept her appearance neat and trim. What grace! It could j ust well be the one they'd been searching for. Anna was on her way over from the looks of it! Kaien decided to disappear once she'd caught up. If it was Amy, then the kids could chat as only true sisters could.

Kaien mentally rolled his eyes. Ah, as if this were a bland soap drama that Ami herself had never intentionally dreamed up- not without some push from a certain demon entity of course..

This girl though, held her things as if they would topple all over the wooden floors should she lose her balance. She was frazzled by the sudden meeting, or would be since the girl here could effectively sense spirits . Kaien saw his cue arrive, Annie was on her way over this time for sure!

Anna gulped back her uncertainty and walked up to the perfect, raven haired dopple, just in time as the fox had hinted.

"Ah, I'm sorry?" Anna tried to raise her voice as she walked on eggshells over to the other student. The young lady had an expression that was neither like Anna's brutal one or Ava's ridged feartures. Anna was taken aback by the reminder as she had fought vixens of evil intent before. This could be a trap...Still, nothing here yet had been written in stone.

Anna did the dumbest (typo) topple in her mary janes while the popular kids snickered from the side lines. Her books lined the floor until one slid as far forwards- to luckily hit the back of this perfect suspect's heel before she'd looked again away. The student gasped and turned around to see her fellow classmate in trouble, scrambling to pick up her text books that littered the school's hallway.

Right away , the curteous miss rushed to help that unfortunate student..Was this a new transfer? Or was the red haired girl about her age, just nervous?  
"Are you..ok?" Anna looked up and it hit her square in the noggin.

~Ami..Ami WAS this new person..She..She tried to calmher thoughts and looked away with a blush.

Anna held back her inner cries. Kaien even had to mentally nip the kid's arm playfully to keep her mouth shut. And with the attire of a catholic school student...It could not be a dream!

"Oh! Uhh, yeah...Just, lost my key to my locker, got kicked all over...Oh! Here it is!" Hana renewed her energies carefully and whipped out the lone locker as if it had been on the floor the whole time ( and thanks to Kaien being invisible, it was easy to trick a couple of non-believers without even trying.)

"Oh! That would have been a disaster for you, or anyone else." This world's Ami smiled back, sincere and so calm. Ah..Not that rosy faced munchkin the team had come to care for so much. She was all grown up, here in her future story worldattending this 'perfect world's ' high school.

"Ah, my manners! I am so sorry. My name is Amy! Yourself? "No reach to help her up? This kid was shy, Ami..was not like this version from the future. But still...

Anna beamed as if this were her ticket outside the book's pages. Yes! She had just out and handed her identity over- yes! Thanks to sincere Ami...Um, 'Amy's' docile nature on the surface, she must have been like the children's mother. Cool and less complex than the eyes could seem to detect of a person's identity- only until they snapped. Way scarier then that had been...Oh boy..Anna jumped back in to interject.

"Hanna! My name's Ann ..eh, Well, you can call me that or either.. Ann is fine -

"Funny! " Amy gasped as if this were news to her already. "I could have sworn that YOU were the new girl to our school. You seemed lost so it just hit me. Sorry ! Am I being too nosy about it?"

"Y-yeah... No, no you are fine. I'm. ..I bumped into a really rude classmate earlier who called me the 'new kid' here...Anyway, th-

Amy shook her head and interrupted. "No, no! You coming here was not a mistake or any trouble. Don't put yourself down , alright? You will miss your first homeroom if I stand to keep you from being this late...Oh no!" The older, future Ami looked at her watch..a watch? Really? Her gasp was soft as her manner of calmness sizzled out . Still frantic..Then Ami had just given herself over to this place..She was no longer a kawaii cutie. More like Ayane by how she acted so innocent..phoo!

"Ah! Shoot! My own class hs started attendence already! I have to go now. If you are looking for how to navigate through Bridgefield High school's halls, your color coordinated uniform tells anyone who knows the code that you are a grade below-

"But..! Oh, I am?" Ann jumped and tugged at her collar. She saw the badge and wondered if this was anything like a prep school's system. Dami went to one but he just never divulged any info to his cousins. .

"The suit tells it like it is? Ok! Well, then I can't be late for 'homeroom'. Nu-uh , nope. Not me!" Ann put on her biggest smile again from earlier.. She swore that later, she was going to need a lot of Nina's special training to shelve this false emotional state for a few decades - once this war had ended, nothing too elaborate.

"Glad you are not so nervous any more. Well, I'll be seeing you then. Have a great rest of your term. Bye!" Amelia's older double jogged off with her long, perfect hair flowing behind her as she dashed off to class without stopping.

Anna just stood in the middle of the crowded hall with her mind lost back in thought over the previous conversation.

Amy was, not an arguementative brat..she was...a proper...Formal..Her manners were soo different! She had her father's eyes and was dressed like a princess here. What else was new?

Ann sighed as the very perfect student to ever walk those halls, had just vanished behind a wave of upperclassmen, caring less that Anna was going to keep tabs on the students here for as long as she had to from the shadows.

They had to leave this high school drama book soon, before Roko had any more brilliant ideas..

"Reminds me of one of my cousin's video games. They all are cookie cutter perfect, not Ami, at least I hope not.."

Damian had borrowed a few games from the next Flash - to- be. The kid had a second love for rom coms in 2d which made no sense but ...

Anna shook her head.

"Guess it's a pop culture blurb." She sighed, shrugging it off before heading back to grab her remaining workbooks from the cold floor.

~~Kiddo? Was it true!?~ Anna jumped back and almost lost her footing. Her locker key fell onto the floor with a sharp 'clink ' that even the greatful dead could hear. It was still in front of the teen as she briskly swiped it from the floors with a huff of frustration.

~Kaien?!~ She exhaled, then looked around to spot the fox right beside the teen's foot. He was a tricky quadruped to beat. Anna was almost impressed by the guardian's stealth training ...

~What do you want from me?~ She groaned as the work books now resembled a ton of bricks instead of futuristic class books...This was the future, wasn't it?

~That was your sister, then we can't let her outta our sights fer much longer! Why didn't ya try to communicate-

~I did so!~ Ann snapped back and rose to her feet as her knees wobbled to stay steady. ~You don't know, but this Amy is clueless! Worse than the first one!-

~No surprise since Roko has a spell on every character she entrances. Manifesto is just a tool tu' her. He wasn't really the mastermind which means we may have a chance-

~Kaien, you are making this seem too easy. ~ Ann shook her head and started again towards the next class. She had missed half of the first...

Kaien sighed and scratched his ear with his long hind leg. ~Just stick to her or we'll have no choice but ta have me go incog insteada you.~ He seemed impatient. Ann knew that Roko was willing to let the rot here. She was a manifestation of hatred from the red dragon's own subconscious after all.

~She's my sister. You can just watch to make sure no one is looking out for that witch's cue.~ Anna sniffed and let a strand of firey hair fall next to her reddened ears. Was communicating without speaking making her emotions go out of whack?

~Then we had best let our hearts settle.~ Kaien nodded before bounding down the halls in his invisible form. ~Your cheeks have been a bright red since you rarely use different magic beside that fire spell. Be careful, ok kiddo? I'm right behind ya should things go south.~

Ann chuckled under her breath. He was acting like a freaking role model now? He had deserted them! Why was...

~Well, then you don't go rogue or solo. I'll do the same. Deal?~ Ann awaited a response as the door to her next class came into view. ~Patrol the halls a bit. I'll be fine. ~ She replied with a huff.

~I hope you know just how dangerous parallel worlds can be on the mind?~ Kaien cocked his head to the side with a frown beside his young charge. ~Don't let down your guard. Somewhere here, she isn't just you sister. Ami is a tool that is under that demoness's paw. If you try to get too close-

~I know. That's why you and I can't be her stalkers." The red head saw her guardian ally's cheeks lighten a bit. Jackpot. Priceless. ~Ah, serves him right anyway.~ Anna hoped that her own thoughts were at least separate.

~Ehem! Just go in already! You are gonna end up on the headmaster's shit list if yer' tardy in this life too.~

Kaien was returned another angst filled nod by Ann before she opened bother door and shouted 'I'm late .'

~A marine but still no valedictorian. ~ He sighed and watched the teen's life continue.

Everyone could be weak, strong. It did not matter. This world was strange as Kaien could sense more magic than both teens were capable...A sense of unease left his butt glued to the hall floor where Anna was readily accepting a detention slip.

Whatever that aura was,it felt colder than any one of Tsukiyume's beams or Ava's hits altogether. Another had their eyes on befriending that miko maidenfrom the shdows, he predicted. The fox's eyes turned to slits as that aura only had his guard up full notch.

~If you so much as snatch a hair from their heads...I won' hesitate in rippin' the next chapter up so nothing stands..you are there...A dark shadow that I know is still after one thing...~ The demonic entity only left achill to run up the Elemental's spine as he turned his head back to the hall's many tiles.

Kaien shuddered as the fire fox's fur bristled from the hovering threat . ~Nothing is gonna make me lose my head inside this damned 'grimms book of horrors!' An' tell your purty' mistress to go back to her interdimensional hell fer all I give a damn a' bout!~The entityhad stilled as Kaien's ears perked up. ~Huh? Not a coward, are ya? Then why deal with you later. We can go at this game all night if I care to wager my life over their's.~ He smirked to the all powerful and hovering force of darkness.

~Mi- Ra-I.~ The whisper had the pooch leap up in fright. ~You talk, then you do exist!~ He barked - but before the presence had all but vanished into that mid afternoon, Kaien had seen its mark left in plain sight on the floor. A trail of dust spelled out what something sinister. It made a symbol that Kaien was forced to wrasp from his past experience not having prepared him for THIS.

~You...are still alive...~His words were lost to regret as the dust cleared.

~The dead...are gonna bring ya back...Damn it all again!~

/

Back again in Sanremo, the auditorium's stage lights had the team's dogs paralyzed..

Agatha's magic had become something of a frightful reminder of whom it was she served. Kayumon shot after to help Ron who had finaaly cornered the sorceress of Delphi, along with her Tenkit warrior ally, Lao Ming.

Lady Ming was not just a cat that had her claws extended toreach the microphone. At first, the show had gone on. Aggie's magic had been pushed back, but then...Manifesto had completely taken hold . Agatha attacked like a mad magician, a crazed evil as her powers caused several casualties without her knowing. Manifesto's blindfold across her vision made it possible to sing like a siren and break walls of glass. The crowds had become servants by Aggie- G's will. They bit and tore at the team of heroes' while crying out Agatha's name. Ronald growled by how badly the witch was ruining her new time on Earth.

Where was their back up? Why was Sayu out of luck!

He shot another lightening bolt into a wall of demon beasts - cat shadows that Ming herself had summoned.

Ron cried out to the air as the noise level only left the kit paralyzed by the decibles he reacted too strongly.

"Owww!" Ron yowled out as Ming laughed away as her astrally conjured cats tried to rip at the barrier. Agatha's siren voice was also busy- busy battling off against the infamous Duo; Cliff and Esme, who seemed to be teammates for the long run till death did them in.

"Are you ok!?" Cliff called out to his blonde cousin . Ron looked up and grimaced with a chuckle. "I...Am...Awhoooo!"

Esme dashed across the stage, but Cyborg was still under that blasted spell. She cried out as the astral cats had come back. Aphrodite's look of Esme's second aspect in pink , emerged. She stood itv her arrows pointing at the cats, then at her taller enemies. ~No one move an inch! You are in my sights!..~

"Ahh! Essie! You are going to blow up the room, Mi -

~Call me something clever! I am going to stop this war right now!-

Esme lifted her bow as it begain to shine like the sun. However her luck and aim, the cherub woman did no notice that Vespa had found her way behind the younger diva. She felt a pinch by her throat, then her shoulders went slack. Vespa reemerged as Agatha shouted for Lao Ming to attack with her pets.

~This time is wasted on both heroes AND creatures!~ Ron saw as Vespa's magic radiated loud and clear from her fists. ~The first was that she could summon a weapon- her relic was in fact to the team's shock, a scythe. A silver blade with the powers of the under realms. Ron braced himself as Nightwing called out to their supposed ally.

"What are you doing? Esme is-

~She's in my way. ~ Vespa frowned and directed her scythe in the cop's direction. ~Esmeralda is weak willed. She was not supposed to act out of turn. The myth is over, her defiance will be realized by the council. ~

Raven knew now that Vespa was a spy. What had been her 'powers' had been of her council woman's charm Her evil deviant nature was of her darkness aspect. Verra was of shadows, but Vespa was of a higher rank.

"But..then Vespa is not one of us!" Kori said with her palms over her lips, cupping back a gasp or two.

"No." Raven agreed with her dear friend. "She was always watching our moves, to report her findings to Hecate in private. "

The one hit the hardest, was the dark cat's family - Ronald lashed out with his teeth showing perly white , with fire coming from his throat like a true dragon. He was more than upset- he felt her betrayal and was willing to break all ties.

"We let you in..." Ron growled while Vespa just shook her head , carefully deciding when it would be her turn to depart from the scene for good. ~I never made a promise to stay and fight, if another of course had me with their request..being, more fulfilling than this one-

"You were bought over by status! Power! There is less pride in what you just!-

~I am the nextin line!~ Vespa snapped back. Cliff shouted to his cousin with a look nof disapproval as well.

"That is not a family friendly quality." Hre shook his head, disappointed by Vespa's secret double life.

The esper cat sighed as if her hour had run dry already for these hopeless debates.

Finally, Agatha drove her stakes deeper off the edge. The cat fled further towards her target with that shining blade only becoming more powerful from the room's negative energy. That was her power! She could turn chaos into fire for her blade- Vespa was an Eternal!

The crowds under the diva's spell soon became more active- more so, that they tore up the steps, attacked the curtains and even gripped out at Kori's leg while she and her team fended off the invasion.

"I do not condone such behavior now please!" Starfire was careful not to injure the zombified rebels. They were still as human as her time here on earth had been. Her darling Richard ran to his second half and was without a doubt, scared out of his mind. He shouted to her over the decibles of pain in both his ears. "Kori!-

"No back stage access! " Gar attacked as Richard had no choice but to go offense. He pushed his friend back, had in the stomach.

His heart raced as if the past had come back to haunt the hero and his ideals . He wanted off this crazy train, no matter what. Garfield just shrugged off the blow while Nightwing tended to his bruised knuckles.

"It's me you idiot! Agh...so quit it right..NOW!" Richard punched his fellow Titan in the snout as the green hero became a kangaroo and boxed Dick back into Raven as she caught him just in time.

"When did Garfield become this stubborn?" He panted out to his team member. Raven looked up and spoke as she saw Gar at his worst in what felt like ten years.

"He is being controlled. The emotions, his animal forms, they are all being forced outside. He has to stop or Gar might-

~I'm not letting you pass - I said get lost!~ Cyborg now added tok the noise and rushed his team with the form of a giant gator Gar after Dick's legs. It snapped out to threaten the team with its massive grin. Cyborg let his sonic canon light up. the room as the two decided their targets. Vespa was no longer able to assist. Ron was losing his grip...Kori was in danger...And...

"We have to take this outside-

"And put him to shame? Come on with it', Hero!" Ron groaned before batting another hit away from Lao Ming's spectre manifestations. "She's going to swallow the stage if you an' your team don't beat that witch to the punch! Go after the reaper!" He demanded while Raven had to raise her voice in question to this plan.

"I don't understand!" Esme saw the team's strife and was unable to sing...her breathing was difficult...right...

"Esmeralda!" Cliff cried with a waivering scream. "No! Sister!" Shehad fallen down by her power being incomplete as Aphrodite's reincarnate. Clifford's power seemed to feel heavy on his shoulders as well. "N...No! Not...Yet!"

His green and brown eyes shot over to Ron before the heroescould rush to aid the two siblings. "Compadre! Ronald!Finish off the show with us...So...Easy in the movies...The heroes have gotta go after that traitor! "

Raven nodded and Richard dodged Gar's jaws long enough todo the same. "Ok." He sighed all at once. "We are going to follow Vespa back...to the under..world-

"No!" Esme gasped and coughed by the loss ofher strength. "They..will not...survive!-

"Hush! We cannot stay either. This place is killing our immortal bodies. Just return to being my dearest friend...Don't say anything else...Ok?"

Clid,ff was a good big brother. He held onto Esme's wrist as if this were therlast bow to make of the duo's short career.

"Ronald?" He turned to hisblonde cousin who had the same look in his eyes. Remorse for what had to be.

"Ok, I will return this plane's peace to it with ya." He agreed. With aching palms he held his fists to his sides, shakily..

"Just, stop Vespa before she does more damage to Eatrth. To our second home!" Esme cried as she said this to the remaning heroes.

"Then we follow." Raven used her magic to errect a portal. One she had hoped never to open in a life time. Now she had the power to open any door with the right key.

~Gates of the Nether realms ...Awaken to thy sights - Allow us passage to the void beyond time and space itself!~

~Azarath METRION ZINNNTHOS!~

The team was transported as Esme, Cliff , and Ron stayed b-

"Wait!-

Kayu pushed Ron through the door, his chance had bead stolen. "You have to defeat Vespa by getting to the bottom of her plans. " He said. "I will stay and protect Earth - don't worry..I have come to understand just as much as you. I was the first to land here, Little brother."

"That you were, bloke...I was a mess. I went hunting for what Sayu had dragged soo far down..." His eyes fell and Ron knew that Kayu was being more than honest. He was a saint in those clothes of a brilliant white. That was in itself, a problem.

"I forgive you. We all do. Sayu is actually trying to stop Hecate. I never said a word that she was pressing limits even in the state she'd left herself victim to."

Ron chuckled and let his body turn to light as the portal swept up what was to remain. "Hah, she never told a soul about that...Love is a funny word? I don't know if she loves or respects her kids."

"A mystery, that Youbi Ahmah." (Typo)Kayu seemed tounderstand his pain, it was not his though to analyze so freely.

"Don't I know that... " Ron finally let the feeling of disappearing forever wash over him, he wasn't ready..it...

Then, with a turn ofhis arm, he made I so that Kayu stood taller than before. Stunned by the trick, the lightening guardian chuckled and left the circle. He was not going to let Kayu have his day yet.. Only once Raven's casting had been completed, did the dogs let their confusing stares go. Kayu had not even screamed at the other pup. Ron went along as ifhe had never intended on leaving. His pride could not allow an ametuer(typo) to sing top dog at Sanremo tonight.

Ron turned to Esme who had only time left before they too had to return to the spirit realms to recover . The were not human, this world's chaos was dangerous. Cliff went on his last journey and picked up an untuned acoustic guitar. He started to get it going , working the notches and finding his rhthym.

~You...Me, we have been forever ,granted for all eternityyy..~

Ron let his voice out secondly as Cliff's tears kept coming , while he battled Lao Ming with his lightening fists of fury.

~That eternity found us, what we believed was that it could caarry our fates a- long...Oh oh oh oh ohhh, we wished upon that star. Our hearts were warmed by a fire...that always we though...would...burrrn for us!~

~I am no god! I am only , a soul that wa- nnders along. We are! Waking up every day- ay!~

~We are! We were soo close, to the endinnng of our story!~

Esme let a croak out as her powers returned for a final performance.

~Where did it sta-rt again? Why did you call my naaame! I was s-ooo ?..S~oo - oo...Ready to fly away...with youoooo!~

~We danced! We still sing...But...Was it ever gonna leave us anything but memories!? Was it too hard to trammple our faaate! We are..not gods of our own land or kingdoms...Never gonna be kings and queens inside that sorry tale...If the ocean swallows me to n~ight...I will surely drrowwn!~ Esma's melodies were deep as lagoon waters. They made the crowd of zombies sway against Agatha's evil curse.

~You won't come back up agai~Nah- ehhhhhay!~Ron rocked out with his howl even harder, thanks the support of Cliff's solo.

~I will show you the w~orld...In these, hands...They quake, are angry and scared...~ Cliff let his guitar slip the world into a dreamy calm. Lao Ming shut her ears and screamed over the sound as it surrounded her cat senses.

~Nnwwwwaarrh! This world is an angry place! You won't survive one day alive!~

~But we breathe...a~Gain! We have lost something..So we stand...Up Tall! We take a step into the world and see! We are! No gods of our kingdoms!~ Ron saved the cat's timing by erasing her evil musical lyrics from the team's tango with sound - and a swaying audience surely followed.

~Never gonna be kings and queens! I would rather take the plunge- Live again...Breathe...in..Breathe out...~

Esme complimented Cliff's lyrics with a sigh in her higher voice.

Cliff and Ron took to a softer duet as they added to Esme's haunting voice of a siren. ~Ohhh...oooooohh...I won't take another step...Ohhh...ooohhhh~Ohhhhh...I haven't tasted life just yet..No god among the living...no king as those stories tell...I am...never agaiiin!~

The siren's art returned as her pink hair turned white. Her eyes shimmering by the shared magic of music surrounding the room. It was a powerful experience.

Agatha was losing control as she fled for the stage exit? Cyborg had however felt the siren's power and was sparking full by his resistance- Vic was coming back!

~Nooo!~

Lao Ming saw as her spectral cats turned to dusk and yowled in pain by their mistress's failure. She raised her claws to the guardians and shouted.

"No...no ! I'll be killed by them! Help! No...You! You did too much! I won't!-

~Agh...~ The one behind Ming was someone who should have been away Someone that had their grip on Agatha's cloak by way of dark magic.

~You are goimg to be still.~ The being was an ally...One by the title of the Eternal's head of affairs.

~And we were never ...In doubt...~ Ron laughed as his eyes fell onto their old crow of an ally.

"Glad you made it-

~Hush. Piper told me everything about the turn around. I was devastated and came ...without my squadron..~

The miss shoved her pink strands behind her with a mighty show of her talented 'abilities.'

~As an Eternal council member and Lord Destiny's protege no longer, I am now going to do what none were capable of for far too long.~

"Alue...Thank you...~ Ron felt his body ache, even when he had been healthier than Cliff..and poor Esme...Kayu trusted..him...

~Ron? Ronaldo!"

Ah...That had happened before..Only no fire works in Sydney or..home...It was time to see his mother again..Good ole' fox..Kayu had predicted no more than he had for this to happen...

~Cousin Ronald!~

Es...She was..awake...good...He heard her as if uner the waves ...Aleiyah was-

~You think so highly of we Kitsune . Oh, how will the raikou in you age properly! You are worse than you father with that attitude!~

Ron was awake..he was, or..was this a past reflection? Was he!?

~Awww! But Kelihatan is waaay more powerful, you keep sayin'! ~ The younger fox was as a human with ears and a bushy golden tail. He was in the past? Or was this a memory from the past! His past!?

Sayumon was dessed in a paler shade of her whitest garb. She was not yet the top dog of the spirit world's alterior heaven. That was what humans tended to call pretty places, right? Not alternate dimensions like in the past...

~You are gonna give him the throne before me! You can't ! His dad was a criminal! My dad is a proud king who everyone loves! You have to re-

~Hush ! If you do not seize these negligent actions towards your own mother, I will have no choice but to take matters further for your future lessons to be completed - I work hard for our council's peace! You could only imagine my pains! Why do you dare disrespect your mother!.. Do I make myself clear? Su- Setiawan ?-

~My true name!? ~ Ron had thought it had been lost..When you were an adult, it was usually shed to hide your face and status on q particular plane. 'Ronald' had been his name on Earth mostly since a few centuries before. Ronald...had remained...But Su- Setiawan...Indonesian...And he was a Raikou? That was the Japanese varient. China had a sect of youki. The Kitsune or Youbi of his culture's past knowing...But..

The world was muddled in his mind...He was a lightening lord to be..Kayu was destined to be of the sky and clouds. Veravakumu was of shadows and repressed anger..Dark thoughts that could be changed to create hope in others by sharing their pain perhaps?...What was his element then? was it stormy weatger and scared kids!? Was it will power? Life!

~I...am strong..~ The little kit spoke to his mother before she turned away with a sniff. ~Sayu was corrupted only years before. When Lori was...No...When Catalina was tempted by -

~Y...you...~

That voice from the darkness had the fox return to this astral place as his powerful self. ~What brought you inside my head!?~ He shouted out as the figment still lurked about.

~Y...you...-

~I'm bleedin' here! Ya gwit! Come out an' face me like you would! Eh!?~ He held up his staff and screamed out as if lost in a blinding storm. ~I will face my damned demons like a bloody storm god!~ The kit was no longer there. He had changed as Ronald's tails multiplied..Seven. He was closer than Aria to his destiny.

~I...will make the cut and banish YOU for all ETERNITY!~ With a warrior's roar, the lion in our hero pounced out at the eerie figure as it circled him from within the darkness - a piece of his very mind's eye, a past he had wished to forget forever...

Spooky cliffy?...What is that figure hiding without a face in the shadows ?

Is Ami really in danger like she doesn't know? Ann is trying her hardest to graduate from pretend high school, but that ship has already sailed for her. And what about the team back in Tokyo? What did hey discover in Shoji's laboratory? Is Rokonreally the mastermind behind Manifesto's awakening? Find out in chapter 14 next- as the Storyteller arc reveals an exciting conclusion! Read and and stayy curious!


	15. Chapter 15

Teen Titans; New Generations; Storyteller Arc- The Manifesto Pages- Chapter 14: Part Two:- One Tale Ends, Another Unfurls.

/

Here in the subconscious, a message could be heard..

It ticked as a pocket watch; wound precisely until its untimely end, while our heroes had been strung back along a difficult path.

The end lead in to the center of one boy's universe. It was ever- winding just as those gears did so continue to turn.

Clocks- so many, and the pages of a burned book- a library of knowledge thrown topside over.

Shoji and his ally Kaede swam about in this sea of the target's unconscious.

Lady Kaede had her eyes peeled on every detail, while Takahara as Veravakumu, saw misery in this child's inner ghost. A hollow mind, yet it wasn't that at all.

Chris had taken too long which meant that his power was still not enough to go it alone- yet the group had been separated only temporarily. At least Marcus was educated enough to increase his brain capacity- though a smaller field would have been easiler to scale across.

(I mean in cubic ft etc, sort of a joke but it is not science! Just an exaggeration. I believe that kinesthetic ( typo) or Analytical (bad...) (typo?) learning is vital though with Asd I fall under the first more than often. Visual rather than anything else. Fantasy is sometimes more fun to write anyways- to each their own interests.)

~Pieces..Ah, just piece after pieces of someone's broken memories..~ Kaede whispered through the speak in a softer groan ( despite her initial distress.)

Shoji was not deterred as easily by the wreckage like his comrade. Even so, he did stall whilst trapped within deep thought. She huffed to this and floated on ahead in her astrally dominated form. Dogs and cats were not as true foxes. Yet Kaede cared enough to pity the boy all the same.

~Your thoughts will have us absorbed if we decide to reflect. His pain cannot yet be our own.~ Kaede called back to remind her ally of the dangers. She could handle the influence better, as her psychic senses were not as attuned to violent outbursts as thisdog seemed to mask in her presence.

Verra nodded and rode the current on ahead beside the fox-miko maiden. ~No, you are far wiser, Kaede sama-

~Iie!~ She looked at him, her eyes flickered as if he had crossed the line.

~No one may call a familiar what a god IS. NOT when they have yet to regain their superior's favor.~She defended her honor..A title was far too important to the clan of her sisters and brother kitsune to waste so carelessly.. ~We are not yet high spirit messengers, just as you guardians require ranks to aid in the balance later throughout your times alive...Do not call me 'Sama.' Only a true 'Kami' should be so thankful as to have that title bestowed-

~Tama, I thought-

~You are not without quips.~ Kaede stopped him with a palm raised. ~ Tama is not the proper term, as always. 'San' I would prefer, we are working together..Minna, as in ; WE are a team.~ Shoji nodded before Kaede asked .

~Were we not given this task by the ones above us?~ She said this with her ears going , twitching about to detect any distrust in her current ally as they stood like ducks in a very shallow pond. Verra apologized with a bob of his skull. ~ Sorry for acting without thinking of how my words should have been said.~

Traditionally, it was a norm to Takahara, he was Japanese by blood and birth. However, the counterpart's Verra was not the same in origin as the 'Class- A billionaire.' He was just the one to embody the near- dead tech giant's head of developement. After a long pause had ended, the cat let the regretful comment drop. Kaede had understood his sincere apology. That, was a heavier sigh just waiting to happen!

~You now know. Then we shall proceed onwards.~ Kaede bowed her head mildly as to not waste much time. Amaterasu understood though she had her doubts...Kaede still wondered what Haru had discovered while the siblings had been torn apart. She thought less of returning , not until the culprit was first brought to justice.

This depth..

This dive into the darkest waters of Marcus's mind brought up thought after thought that were meant to corrupt if one decided to let down their guard. Magic swarmed in velveteen waves across his body as the miasma formed a cocoon of energy to protect its host .

The two allied heroes were more than close, they had found their target as decided by the eariler fall into the abyss of the boy's unconscious mind. He was in plain signt, a very dangerous opportunity had arisen.

Verra swam closer until he and Kaede were then in luck- Marcus in his projected body was within a rounded dome as they inched on ahead further . A protective barrier or containment unit kept the light haired child spirit from waking in his comatose state. The cocoon was living though not tangible enough to touch. The core beneath it gleamed back through the endless mountain of shadow.

~Looks too familiar..~ Verra scratched his astrally intangible chin. As if this had happened before..Why was he worried!? Was this world trying to get the cat upset?

~We must leave our psychic guards up, though lower your thoughts ...The world here is bound to use any stray echo against you.~

Kaede was right. That made sense, a psychic attack could turn a braniac like Shoji into a drooling mental patient. He had to be very careful around those rays that surrounded Marcus's projected cocoon.

~Oh, so do we just swim past security or do you already have a plan up your ceramonial sleeve?-

~So rude, dog.~ The fox was not alright with being openly mocked. Her kimono was not as the ones that humans wore. It was a gift endowed with magic from her dearest ...Ah, but..Another time. The world could attack her precious memories with ease if there was any more need to delay.

~Yes...A painless opening...Right by the crown of the magical shounen's head.~ Kaede whispered as her eyes narrowed to point out towards the boy's forehead. Well, above it...But the crown did not glitter golden. It was the root. the space closest to the tip of Marcus's head.

~That...Um, we have him here though.~ Verra was confused as he scratched his skull a second time. He then gasped back.

~ In his head...I..inside HIS HEAD?..Are you sure that th-

~Nothing is as it seems.~ Kaede turned to the dog and seemed annoyed by his reluctance. She was. Yet there wasn't any doubt there from the start. Cat or dog, foxes hated to work in large groups. She and Haru had been plenty.

~Ok...Then let me go first. ~ Verra edged closer as he swam, though deja vu again overcame the con cat. This was familia...

He was close enough to brush his fingertips just over top the brat Marcus's unmoving , contorted form. The boy looked to be at peace in fetal position in this false shell of an-

~No ! ~ Kaede sensed it. Verra fell back as a snaking tendril attempted to attack from beyond time's boundaries. The kitsune seethed her impatience through sharpened fangs. She called out angrily.

~Do **NOT** THINK! THA -

 _~Ah!_ Too late to argue when I have a serpent to beat to a pulp!-

~Dog! **_Behind_** you!-

Kaede felt another tug and soon realized her mistake.

 ** _~Ahh!~_** She cried aloud as the tendrils of miasma reached after her from behind. It had no face, no body, no voice...It terrified her by the monster's serpentine movements ...Like a noisy ghoul without eyes. It soon flailed angrily against the intrusion.

 _~Kaede!~_ Verra stunned the evil monster with his staff of power. He dove after the second, the monster was a whip of a figure and almost had her..

~I'm coming!~

 _ **~No!**_ ~She had the fox shocked*, to push him away with her magic. The kitsune was going solo!? The cat objected wih a shout.

~I am **_not_** letting you suffer! ~Vee demanded, as his body felt that chill of the miasma's negative presence.

~Let me over there! I AM _NOT_ THAT CRUEL!~ He slashed at it till his hands turned to ice and frost. The cold meant that he wasn't able to control his demons...His claws were coming out..

Still, still the barrier wall shoved him back into the waiting arms of Marcus's own tormentor. Kaede looked away as she used her sacred relics to fend off another tendril beast by herself. She severed it well enough to move closer again towards the boy. Verra wondered, for how long...She wanted to do this alone. It was not...

Verra suddenly opened his eyes and gasped by the memory of a place in time where this had all happened before...

 _~No!~_ He turned around to where Marcus now was on his back, lying still against his prison's walled-in structure. ~I...I won't let this go on!~

Verra pawed his way past the venomous critters of an eternal damnation.

 ** _~Illuminatum!~_** (made up) He bellowed with his staff to the sky.

He shouted out loud his spells with his eyes firmly to the ground where the target remained asleep. Kaede had to hang on...Veravakumu had never even performed light magic before- let alone a basic moon crafting!

 ** _~Aaaahhh_** !~ Verra pushed the barrier back with his mind now blank temporarily as the pages of his olden world. There was only tomorrow shining back at him. Not yesterday, not later, just today and the future that could not fall to pieces.

 _~Liberate!~_

The walls of the erected, magical barrier shattered as crystals did shimmer back into the cat's own two eyes. Crystal clear, he had done part one proud.

The darkness had changed. Verra groggily reawakened to his fullest power and looked all around. Kaede was still there, she had been trying to destroy the creatures that had been keeping Marcus...

 _~Con...tin...ue?...~_

An echo in his skull, the very back of Verra's own mind had him wide awake.

~Who's !-

 _~Cont..in...ue..?.~_ The voice asked again.

Shoji thought he was going mad..Kaede had warned him of the dark world that they were now trapped inside of.

 _~No...~_ Shoji huffed and raised his staff of his world's own rites. ~ This will not go on!~

 _~No?..~_ The creature, the entity was confused. Why did that annoy him? Veravakumu's heart pounded. He was sweating under his lip like a snivelling coward...But..this was a faceless demon! It had to be quieted!

 _~A...ttack?-_

 **~No!~** Shoji shouted as if the speak could not reach Kaede's sensitive ears of a kitsune.

He was wrong as she bit her lip and glared back at him from a few feet apart.

~You _must_ try to stay _focused!~_ Kaede hissed back.

The fox was fending off less and less tendrils as she chipped away the rest of the first cocoon's layer. He had to giveher all the credit for standing against the very last beast. Kaede was a demon other own making, coated in the foul things' miasma and by their stained bodies as the monsters laid strewn about the space as bleeding pulps of energy. An astral graveyard as each one turned back into dusk and vanished completely.

~Now, _please_ help me break through to the core .~ She commanded with a set sigh. Even as Veravakumu was still being attacked psychically by the unseen face, he said nothing of a demon from his end. Kaede was left in the dark and did not bother to pry, worrying that it would simply waste more time in the end.

~I'm...I'll be right over!~Shoji replied back to her hastily.

Getting himself a minute to breathe inbetween duel struggles, Shoji whisked himself back over to where Kaede was examining her newest obstacle. He was so lose by that it was nothing more than a doggie paddle from point A to point B.

~Another wall of miasma.~ Kaede finally stated this to her comrade once he had rejoined her.

She levitated beside the sleeping target with a sleeve covering her mouth and nose for protection. ~This will not be enough power between us~ She said, as Verra tried not to regress back into the memory of that deja vu feeling from earlier.

Yet Kaede was quick. Her claws nearly grazed Veravakumu's intangible body before he had a chance to defend himself properly.  
Her eyes were white and alit with her suspicion. (typo)

~Do not hide secrets during this mission.~ She responded and pulled back her claws slowly. Shoji was startled, though sighed as the words soon could not be contained any more. ~I...have a small confession to make.~ He started to say. Kaede stopped and retracted her nails as the dog gave his all, only failing to delay her reaction as all she had to do was listen..

~This entire atmosphere..This exact plan , though, it wasn't like this en-

~I can only bear so much of your story, Guardian.~ Kaede's eyes again started to glow . The dog cleared his throat to start over. She was one tough cookie to please.

~When I had been working to stop the red dragon from coming to Earth in the past, when the powersource had been the previous Robin of the Teen Titans, we fought on a similar field..or within it...It was to stop a shard of the red crystal from controlling the life of one of the powersource's loved ones. I didn't notice until Marcus was here but...I think that this is actually a -

 _~T-R-A-P_ ~

~YOU **_AGAIN!?~_** Shoji whirled around to catch the voice's vessel this time.

Still, it only laughed, and _laughed_ ..Oh, it filled the room of space and time till the whole void shook by the being's maniacal, drolling cackle.

Shoji felt a metaphorical(typo) vein pop. He knew of that laughter and his demon was soon let off its leash - as the dark wolf of the void's creation from previous chapters, it howled and went around the space, snapping the necks of those slimy serpents while Kaede finished with her casting.

 _~Veravakumu!~_ The low voice bellowed as more miasma thickened around poor Marcus. Verra was frozen. His only form was as a stunned warrior. Had Kaede not pulled her comrade closer to their supposed target with a powerful yank*, the dog might have lost everything- his sanity, memories. That voice drowned out all else. Including his earlier concentration..

 _~Vessel...Form..Wanntt...Lliiiife!~_

The creatin was without a form, a shadow that absorbed the miasma cloaking Marcus from its presence. Kaede had not realized it, but that magical barrier was there to keep the crazed spook out, not the other way around. It was magic, the child's shield and now...The dog and fox had left the young sorcerer exposed. Out in the open as a lamb to the-

 ** _~MINE...TO...FEED!~_**

It swept overhead the core and scared Veravakumu who transformed back into his hybrid form as kit was still stunned by this evil- whatever it was, it was more powerful that it had originally let on only moments ago!

~It's just a wraith! A meaningless spirit! ~ Kaede shouted out to her petrified comrade. She returned to the spell - she had enough time remaining so far to free Marcus from this place for good. Verra growled as the evil reaper only continued to taunt them from above. Its wingless form was in tatters, eyes of red, aging arms and..no!

~A SOUL _STEALER!~_

Kaede heard Verra scream out as she gave her all into releasing the last-

~Save enough for _me,_ did you?~ That voice...it was evolving!

Kaede slowly turned her head towards the echoing sound. A chuckle resounded..She felt her haunches rise in this current life and swiftly deflected the ghoul's attempt- it was going to drain her of her manna with a perfectly aligned hit.

 **~Glutton!** You are _not_ welcome here! ~ She swung her small knives in his direction as the spook only evaded every one by his intangible body's resistance to all physical attacks.

~So, the sun lady has arisen from her slumber? ~ It grinned as Kaede's claws came out- her blood pumping as Verra's shadow self came to aid the kitsune in battle.

~Our hime is not going to allow you to exist...Nor shall I! Perish now by my holy blades!~

Her magic was attached to the relics as the shadowy figure only laughed at her in a eerily, deep timbre. Even while running from the fox's 'fire, Kaede was afraid to get to close. Just as Verra was acting she noticed..

 _~Verra!~_ Kaede used what energy she could, but the dog had...That was why the shadow could speak in full sentences! It had attacked his energies first...It was feeding on something other than simply fear.

~Verra! Try! Call your wolf back! You are too weak to defend yourself or Marcus!-

~As are **YOU!~** The shadow hit Kaede in a sneak attack as it materialized from behind to send the kitsune flying. He was so fast!

Kaede moaned in pain as she clenched her side to heal it by way of her magic. Thankfully, her landing spot had only been inches from Marcus's comtose, disembodied state. Kaede forced herself to crawl, swim, to do whatever she could before the demon had any other plans to attack her while she was injured.

It glided across the void as if a king to this new realm, just as the miko maiden had predicted. While it did so, rift after rift tore in small slithers by its inhuman claws. It had poor Verra's eyes widen in fear for the child's already unstable mind. The dog finally shook himself awake and growled out with a fire in his lungs.

 _~AAGH!_ I AM DONE BEING A COWARD FOR **YOU...Roookkkuuuu!~** Kaede heard the heartbeat of a distant entity, one that had once existed and had been partly responsible for Amaterasu Hime's sickness.

~Red _dragon..~_ She snarled before regaining some of her powers. She deflected a second blow, then sent talisman strips, powerful wards to stop the entry of this evil king from nearing the core.

No. He was a soul stealer till his end. He was supposed to be dead!

The wards only fluttered to land at the enemy's two feet, turning quickly to ash. No effect...

 _~Hah!~The_ king barked as his wrists were returned to their ageless state. His face grew back the features of an almost complete tyrant that had been, while Marcus still lay flat on his back. Or so it seemed by how Roku was intent on tampering with the setting...

~YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE THIS VOID AGAIN! GO DIE TWICE OVER YOUR CROOKED _**MONSTER!~**_ Verra barked out with his ears as far back as they could go. He was furious, the dragon was still walking without a care in the world!

The dragon mockingly frowned a pout by the hurtful comments . He had never decided if the cat was good enough to be a mindless drone..

 _~Ouch!_ You detest the very _thought_ of a family reunion..~ The king seemed upset, well..He was not invited back for good reason!

~ Though think nothing of it. My mind was set from the start...~ The dragon smiled as if pleased with his comeback.

Roku, this was the maniac that was always angry with someone, anything that breathed his name was rewarded..Oh? As always, but for a significant price.

~ My newest purpose is not for prying eyes. And..Don't your Earth charges _'monologue'_ more than those, silent spectres? ~ A question? No, more insults in the form of dry wit maybe. Kaede bit on her lip so much that she wanted it to bleed a bit.

~I was too proud. Still, not _enough...Discipline,_ on my own part.~

~What...are you...Pant..*...Doing alive?~ Kaede was unable to say anything more with her energy still returning.

This 'king' had a psychic ability that like any magic user, could turn a god into a demon by guilt alone..He was a terror to the people of Japan, Indonesia, England, Scotland, South and North America, Rome, Athens as in the past Lilu had done her worst to the high order there...He was a messenger of countless doomsdays that were yet to arrive. He fed off of souls that suited him. He had created a serum known as 'life wine' that had led to a massacre for the sake of profit through many a dark age- He had claimed himself a false ruler and had crushed kingdoms by his intervention. He had bed and wed women who were never the same after birthing one of his offspring. Chaos, he desired never to look back on it all.

And his teachers...

As of previous arcs..the devils of the worst one could imagine of a fantasy gone to hell and never come up: Lilu , succubi mother and former deity aspect of Ishtar. (Look it up! Makes perfect sense! ) Lothos, the vain relative of Count Dracul or the 'Dracula ' of legend ( spirit world so alternate existance!) A character known as Puppet Master and in Wattpad story, formerly, Al- Andalusi of alt Venezia) was more so Lilu's doting ex lover , but as a relationship with a succubi usually ends, he ended up becoming a lackey instead by his assumption that the two were fated for eternity. Lilu hates long term commitment after all.

The list was cut off there as the dragon inside still knew how to keep his enemies in line- he was a devil, one that had never fully turned. Exiled son of the Eclipse deity and later Djinn known as Azag , the story wrapped itself around in the king's victims brains.

Marcus was a sad part of that fantasy. Now, he was in as much danger as the two who had foolishly been trying to save the person expecting company.

~Prepare, for a fresh start.~ The king didn't even bat an eye as he lit the realm within Marcus's mind up with his elemental fire.

~Manifest...Manifest ...Power of the lords of space time! I hath every rite ! LET IT BE RECIEVED BY THE NEXT UNIVERSAL GOD'S _DECREE!~_

 _/_

Amelia looked over her shoulder and saw that red head , again. The crystalline orb was a mirror, a way to see the last other sibling's fate as it came undone..So cruel.

At first, the cursed book had allowed the teen a new life in her highschool years that...Ami was sure these would end once Roko pulled the plug. Anna was...She knew what was going on, but that person who had her name, her face.

As she remained in the clothing of the dark aspect Lady Amelia, Ami tried to channel what magic she could squeeze out. If any foxes or deity were present, she could yell in her loudest echo by the speak's power.

Yet, if she had only not been so rushed in the first place! Anna was being a bully, more like a stalker in la la land highschool. Dami and the others had still not found Shoji's lab probably . The place was usually booby trapped to throw out any dumb wanna be scientists from discovering his top secret projects. Nina had been only a partner or pet project before Dearheart...Well, Maya wasn't the problem here- no disrespect! Anna was making her lil sis wait!

~Roko! You had better just do your don'ts' and get yer booty back here! Agh...Even Jackie would never talk like I just did...Slang is sooo hard!~ Ami grumbled as she remained chained back by thick cords that the evil dopple had prepared ahead of time. ~I hope artsy fartsy me knows some good gettaway planning ...~ The ebony tween frowned with a whine. ~Annie...I hope you can ever forgive me...Aiden...It's already too late..~

/

Aiden had been close, but Glen had been easily able to stop the kid's fall with a drag up from some misplaced...F-firey abyss?

"Were we not in the modern era just a moment ago!?" Henry exclaimed as the world suddenly resembled a bad dream all over again.

"We were, boyo ! But this, eh...I can't paint a great picture of our predicament...~ Glen was baffled by their transport into another area that looked to be a medical ward. The others understood his confusion too well.

Aiden looked around as his eyes picked up the letters of something in Japanese. " It's..-

"Guess we are still inside Shoji's tower." The blonde said while having figured outa portion of the kanji displayed. Glen and Henry trotted along as the three tried to decide if their group members had suffered the same . This route was a dead end to Aiden as he walked up to the sliding doors and pulled against the frame-

"Not a door!" He let it go as the sealed latch did not have a true handle. "What kinda trick is this?!" Glen tried his hand at the thing before his eyes almost acted in response to the half frost giant's large fists.

"No _no!"_ Henry shoved his ally out of the way as the magician teen decided it high time that he give it his all.

~Magic, _unlock!"_ The door's latch appeared as an intangible one while Aiden reached out to grab the glowing knob before it could vanish .

"There! Now pull with all yer' might!" Glen got into the action and helped his younger charge to tackle to trick knob with both working in unison. With a solid tug the door slid to the side , nearly being pulled up from its hinges in the process.

"Oh my! You brought it down as I knew you two would..." Henry shook his head with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Sorry, Shoji has to fix the up keep-

"Wait." Aiden saw that the hall was just as the first.

Had, they even left the room?

"We are _still_ in the ward! What's this about then?" Henry turned to Glen who went over to examine the broken door.

"We never left so this must be an illusion...Who put it up though?"

The team had to ask these questions as the room became the only world or would, they'd recognise..If the team stayed as sitting ducks! Henry picked up his wand and tried time, he directed his aim at an opposite wall.

"I am going to send my shot into the other direction by-

"Lousy shot like _ya?"_ The three had to pause...wait...Was that-

"Glen! You...you don't mean a _word_ of what you just said to me!-

"Idid enough times to get your doors unhinged . Well? Just say you threw us in deeper down the rabbit hole! I hate it when lyin' just won't suit a tot -

 **"Hey!** Stop it or I am going to -

 _"No!_ What's up with you two all of a sudden?" Aiden drove himself to the middle of the magican beings' spat.

"You two are _'mates'_ or whatever!-

 _"Egh!_ **Idiot!** That word in my country is not as the modern society states it. How _dare_ you call us such! " (The joke is that in henry's medeival word, mate was more so for kingw , concubines and ancient societies that carried a respect for procreation. Since he is seen as a city dweller, his idea is that it makes him seem interested in Glen so it is just due to their words not beings as a slang in respect for buddy or pal or whomever in New Zealand, Australia which Aiden has mixed up with England pretty easily. He's no Ann or Ami sadly so we'll just see how the joke ends up ripping their friendship apart- or is it another twist!)

"I still see you as a bad apple, yah can't do anything well enough! Why not a piece of my heart while's eh' s at it!" The gruff , grey haired fae laughed as the puffer cheeked red head only wanted to lash out. "You...you _ruffian!_ How dare you jest as ye do! I am not !-

"Don't care. You need more trainin' fer su-

"Shut it! **BOTH** OF **_YOU!"_** Aiden slapped the biggest with a hit from his sheath. "You..you are acting like five year old adults! What gives!?" The teen crossed his arms and saw that Henry had it worse off. "I...You will not apologize..Fine! Then you two can keep each other from freezing ! I don't give a damn about our friendship...liars!-

"Henry! No, **_don't!-_**

The magical teen had teleported by the ache that had grown by a single fight between friends. Aiden ran a set of fingers through his mane and groaned loudly, hoping Glen could see that his allies were sharing the same feelings.

"We aren't a team without everyone being on the same page!" Aiden shot an angry look at Glen who just turned to face the wall where Henry had been willing to try his spells out. Aiden didn't like being a leader often. Oftentimes anyway it ended with a fight, or a farewell...he wanted out of this room...

"You and I don't know magic like Henry. " Aiden sat in a far corner of the medical room and hugged his knees to his chest. "I don't know what made everything go so sour, but fix it or no one wins-

"Just how it should be for _us."_ Glen snickered under his breath. Aiden shot up and stared in the giant's direction.

 _"What?"_

Glen's pose was that of something untrustworthy..Like a snake or a vining , putrid ..sna-

.No...Oh... He was not alive in there..

"Ah, caught that did you?"

The imposter chuckled as it inched close to where Aiden now forced himself to stand. He found that his had weakened by the entity's influence however. His limbs turned on him as Aiden felt the cold floor hit his jaw.

 _"Owch!_ What is this !? I want to know where my team is! I'm warning!-

"You are powerless, little **chosen."** The creature knew too much...what was it?

"Who...What do you want!?-

"I separated everyone to have you all to myself...Well, my _help_ did actually...You should be pleased to hear from me after being so long apart...No clues yet? Not one? " Aiden was confused. His nerves were rattling about, he spat out a name he thought fit the description.

"Charl? Not Lao Ming...Roko! You should be!-

"Close...I choose bodies to keep and to dismantle...There was one that would _not_ break..." The voice seemed to be musing to itself as it looked away from Aiden's form a moment to ponder.

"Then..he was possessed...or replaced...Which is it!?" Even Aiden couldn't tell, the disguise..but ..

"Then...Ah...Regis? Lothos!? Ah...R...R...-

"You are unable to remember?" The voice left chills in the air as the same effect kept Aiden glued to the medicalroom's floor tiles.

The evil version of the either false or possessed Glen smiled, it smirked down with its fangs poking...out...

Aiden gulped as sweat formed across his face and neck. The air turned to solid ice while the sun child's power only worsened. He...was stuck!

"Well, then no reunion...how about...We start over..From the beginning?"

"W...W-wh-who...A-a-a- are...Y-y-you?..." The eighteen year old shivered..

Yes, he was already that old thanks to diving in and out of time rifts for so long...it was impossible to remember the past anymore!

"My boy, you'll just have to keep looking for answers...I will be closer than you wish...Until then...Learn to swim-

"Wh -

 **"AHHHH!"** Aiden fell down down until his eyes spotted a large pool of water- It was the lowest lev!-

"Gotcha!" Zatara had grabbed her falling ally just as he had made his appearance out of thin air. The teen was unable to find his center. He panicked and tried to breathe properly but instead felt his heart resound through his ears like a steel drum's beat. " _...huhh...uh?"_

The blonde looked up with his eyes carrying heavy bags under them. "Za..tan-

"Yes! I'm right here...Glad you made it...We almost lost the rest of the team to this worm hole haven." She let out a relieved a sigh.

/

Aiden was flown off and back over to a safer spot beside the shattered glass(define safe?) of some failed experiment. "This place hasn't been used in years...I think this was closed once the tower had gotten funding to build a brand new lab. "

"Not ...sure.." Aiden was too dizzy to make sense of the situation. Yet as the room stayed where it was, a door came crashing down from a flight up. Damian whizzed by with a crazed Charl after the teen's head. ~Nuit! Lune! My darling children are dead you imbecile ! I will kill you for this!~

Charl transformed into a hawk and rushed after the current Titan. "Too bad! You lost this one fair and square!" Dami shouted back to the shifter demon.

"You brought _HIM_ here!?" Zan exclaimed to her partner. Robin just tried to avoid getting too close to his friend who had to heal one of the Grayson's kids again.

"What about him!?" Dami pointed to the blonde in Zan's arms as her magic tried to return Aiden's strength to his lungs.

"He fell through the ceiling! Have a heart!" She snipped. "This is a bad time to have a misunder-

"I am just as worried as you! The kook is not letting his insect's death -

~You killed every one of them! _Murderer!_ **Lunatic! _Aarrgh!~_**

Charl had Robin down to his last throwing item..Next was...his sword? But-

"You are soo not going to ruin me here! " Robin swung back and attacked. The shifter imp's disguise disappeared to reveal the true creature's grotesque form of a once spirit dwelling breed.

~My...my **_magic...Noo!~_** The thing had a long beak like a bird on very stubby, two toed limbs. The being had a pudgy body as the rest was an ebony form that didn't bother needing an excuse to run around in one's birthday suit.

An imp, a shape shifting entity that no longer acted as Charl did. Some liked the old ways of causing a mess to the world's peace..Today, the imp nation was of Gaia and of the void's forgiveness. Yet Charl had not come to the conclusion that imp stereotypes had since been ancient history. (Fiction, so just take it as one would a grain of salt. Less is more maybe?)

Its big, beady round eyes of a pure spinel black had Dami jump back in surprise. "He...is not a pretty boy?" Robin blinked .

Charl growled with his sharp teeth knashing together as his fists and tiny wings bearly posed a threat any longer.

~I have to regenerate! You...you are not capturing **me** !-

~I don't like your tone! _Collapse!-_

Zan set up a large forcefield over the demon's head. It turned into an astrally formed cage as the squealing imp soon scurried into the trap without thinking. ~Oh! I am a gonner! You do not know who you are toying with!- Not I! Non! It is a demon greater than myself! ~

The giggling imp was twitching with glee by how it had successfully put the heroes back on edge. "What demon? Who are you going to contact if we don't banish you first?!" Zan was stern with her threats. Her follow through of the plan was as her steely trap over the culprit's head. He was glaring deatharrows in the sorceress's direction.

~Let me go free, and he shall spare you..~

Damian snorted and prodded a finger accusingly at the imp Charl. "Right, and _he_ would be the cursed book- Manifesto? We aren't afraid of an innanimate threat like him."

The demonic imp chuckled as its face scrunched up with smirking grin in the young male's direction. ~Oh ho! Not Manifesto you should worry your pretty heads over- non non! He is back! You will meet face to face like _WE WISHED!~_

"Ok, Zan?" Robin gave the signal as Aiden realized that the imp was telling the truth..

He shouted for his comrade to reconsider with his lungs still in pain from earlier. "WAIT! Don't get rid of him! He's..He is right!..." Aiden let his mop of hair cover his eyes as he felt a chest cough come up.

 _~Ooh,_ yes! _You_ understand, for he met with _you!_ ~

Dami raised a brow then turned to Zan and Aiden Grayson, who seemed to be hiding something. Robin's suspicion only returned when Aiden looked to the side without opening his mouth a second time. Damian scowled and returned to interrogatimg the imp.

"We wanna know..Who are you working for if it's not Manifesto? What about your posse? What about the crazy lady Roko? We want you to talk-

~Ask the **Chosen** then!~ The demon motioned his thumb to point over his shoulder to the blonde outside . "I am not doing that until you talk ." Damian shook his head. "Who is the _'demon'_ you work for!?-

~Why do I have to humiliate myself now! _Non!_ Shut your little whip and go play with your friends a while longer-

"Robin! It's pointless to-

~You want a hint, eh? That I'll gladly riddle to you!~ The imp hopped up and down , hoping to seduce the Titan with his prime offer. "Good, at least give us a clue. We'll send you packing either way-

~I am as sand in an hourglass, timelessly I seek to reform again. The clock that winds is my vice- the item which carries not my hour..~

 _"Huh?"_

~My cloak is dashed with the blood of both kin and enemy alike-

"No..he..he _can't!"_ Aiden felt his lip trwmble like before. He was imagining that face...it was in shadow..

"Aide!? _Dami!_ **Stop** !-

~My power is to create- I destroy once my patience wears thin...My art of loving only one is weakest under a winter sky- the sun is my shield-

 ** _"Dami!"_**

The teen just listened and thought. "Red...Blood of one's enemies...A cloak...Red s-

 ** _"STOP!_** Aiden screamed . "No...You...He's not going to give...you...a hin.."

 _"Aiden!?"_ Zan saw the teen pass out again. The imp was to blame as his fingers emit a strong essence of dark magic.

Zan let her steely magical trap **zzap*** her prey back into submission. Damian blinked as the riddle had no end!

What? Was it a person? A symbol or object from long ago?

 _~Owwchy!_ That was getting to the best part! Spoil sport ya ar!~ The imp had lost its pretty language..All imp were not as vile as this..They had been in the village of a good king in the dark woods. It was not like fairy worlds in picture books, but pretty similar to the setting. A rogue imp however could do far more harm.

"You..are not going to make my teammate summon whatever it was you wanted him to!" Zan growled this in a low voice, her threat real enough as Charl in his impish form receeded into the back of her man- made prison.

~Too bad, it would have set us both free. Oh _well-_

 _"Dying?_ Is _that_ what you thought? Killing us with your _'nefarious'_ scheme? Let me be clear on one thing." She huffed and made her way over to the imp's cage. "I do not forget. Never- not my friend's emotions or circumstances or even an event like this one happening in three separate locations. If you show up again after the council gets to banish you to wherever criminals go on your world, I will not rest and you will have to spend your last life in solitary confinement for what you put us all through! Got that Charlie?!"

The imp zipped his lip with a last mumble of something next to jibberish.

Nodding, Zan knew that it would be shut, closed tight as an oyster hiding its pearl. "Then stay still and be good for your persecutor-

 _"H-Harsh?"_ Dami stammered by the sorceress's cold gaze. "I had no choice. He was using you to summon a power hungry enemy. Didn't that dawn on you at _all?-_

"No...I..." Damian shook his head, feeling pretty dumb. He had been brought to a side of some interdimensional rift that had called him over...he had..been tempted by a demon...Again!

"You told us to be careful, well practice what you preach." She was right. They nodded and had Aiden hoisted up while Zatara continued to keep Charl contained inside the astrally conjured cage.

~He will not come, not if you keep this u-

 **~Oow!~** Charl had been trying mind speak to the heroes. Zan caught the imp's trick and had him shocked where it stung the most.

"My warning is still real enough. Don't try anything, I mean every word by 'I will' have you tried for this crime- And maybe you are a murderer on top of that! It's not ok." She frowned and returned to Aiden and Damian..Charl looked up through the eyes of one whom had been hurting. With his whispers sharp and his voice lowered to the earth as a silent echo, the imp cast a spell that was set to activate like a ticking time bomb.

~Let my enemies realize their own flaws well...My savior returns...It will be, _VERY_ SOON.~

Not much of a curse, but a warning of his very own. Charl had a new ruler to see as Manifesto...Had already been dethroned hours ago...

/

As for the book consumed once by chaos-

When the tome had found the face of another piece of scientific liturature, its end had been fragile; the enemy teens had been swept up within its pages, while the other adults had decided to scour the globe for someone else. The message was no longer heard loud and clear. Manifesto felt that his powers had been stretched out too thin. His casting onto Agatha of the Ex- Delphi agents- The boy Marcus whom had fallen into a dead stupor. Well, he was still alive.

Ming, who had her claws aching for a cat fight in Sanremo Italy. Charl who...He had a lot of issues to address in his past life ' as they say...'

~I was _cheated_ ! Given babes as carriers of my good law to come..Yet...That witch- That daemon woman had my life in her palm...~ The entity was as any later class or later origin's djinn. Manifesto was not a lord of time as say Lord Abi or Azag...and lord Dreamwake still lived !...

~I am not enough..My pages..I wish to become a full fledged king of fates entertwined, such as these of the guardian's _...Charges..~_

He snorted the last word off as the tome's voice no longer held the chosen hostage..It never had been the plan. He was without his completely whole self- a dangerous combination yet a useful tool.

~That boy was missing his shadow, his aspect side that was ' reflected ' in all sense of the word..~ Manifesto hummed as he thought, the sound soothed his nerves but the witch would be back. She intended to use the tome as SHE saw fit.

~The witch is lovesick, stricken by doubt as well as demented as can ever be told!~ The tome groaned with a desire to flee the room it had escaped towards. An office , a few were set aside for the tome to hide in from his current contracted- though never fully by choice.

~The witch had given life to this day dream within the child Marcus. He was thrown into battle and I...What did that leave this excuse of an unwritten epic!~

~You could end up as fire wood, or I could ease your stress for good, old fossil.~

Roko came from the rafters as she melded in and right through the ceiling out of thin air. Her rippling return had the tome levitate to defend itself with what spells it could cast alone.

~You left me _stranded_ in this form! ~ It accused the daemon aspect, with a circle of alchemaic (typo) symbols about it for protection.

~I am very **busy,** little fairy tale!~ Roko pouted as if mocking - she was! He was a tome of manifestation. Of dreams made real by way of selling your damned soul !

~You quiet all your lectures to _ME!_ I am ageless as the sands were once- How **dare** you treat a king-

 _~Excuse_ me?~ Roko's eyes narrowed as she levitated dangerously close over towards the defenseless object.

~I freed you with **HIS** _POWER!~_ Her fire the of dark arts slammed* the relic into a desk that fell to shambles in an instant. ~He is and always will be better than any lord to that plane. You should bow and regret every word uttered to me...His face before the turn!-

 _~Y-you?~_ Manifesto gawked before setting up another barrier , he wanted out. The demoness was full fledged enough for him to know. Yet , the book shuddered by its pages in mid air. The figure leaned in close and propped up her knee to bang* right into the splintered desk like thunder. He was in a dead place...

~My king is all - thee king you wish **You** were!~

~You..you're nothing but a lost!-

 _~Aah-ahh!~_ Roko brought her fist closer as she edged towards the tome where he was soon cornered- she let her fingers move to let one delicate finger etch itself across the demon book's newly borrowed spine. It was a spiral journal...his pages curled by the heat as her ungloved hand emerg-

The sound of a sizzling, emptied container stilled within the small room. Roko relased her grip from the singed book's spine as it contorted into an ashen disaster. ~You are an eye sore. Rather, you freed him..I can only repay you with your final rest being...~

Roko smiled and let her fingers trail across the falling pages as she held the now the ripped, destroyed relic inbetween her fingertips. ~Case of yours, closed. I don't think anyone connected to you would mind becoming a servant for his rising army.~ The demoness chuckled as the book, the useless and desecrated (typo?) tome fell to the cold floor in pieces. A ripped manuscript would have been the best way to have described the book's newest appearance.

~Your soul was a waste on us. Marcus can stay, he has another part to play I'm afraid- so no more dreams for our little diary of a mad king!~ She laughed and continued by further scorching the innanimate object as bits of the remaining pages of Manifesto floated down onto the cool carpet.

~So ends the tale in a tragic -

Roko felt her skin prickle as the fire turned, warping the demoness as it chained round her neck and shoulders. In a form as the gods would have it, the lady daemoness gasped with tears in her eyes. ~My _king!~_ She cried out as if seeing an illusion in the distance before her. Crying out, reaching out to touch the intangible lord of her very desires, Roko gasped out as the warping vine clutched round her breast tightly. She winced with a blush on her cheeks until the ugly vine had receeeded and a voice echoed, from within the corners of the demon's own world she coulkd see everything that was beautiful...

A party, all for them. He was dressed in his finest wear..She, her tradition's own gown of a queen, an empress. (typo?)

~I have been waiting for this moment , and to my surprise I see...You have _always_ been the most loyal of all to your king.~ As if the delusion painted a picture, a vision of her hand being touched, the demoness in he real situation whined out. She hated reunions that were set in another place! He had to come back!

~Sire, the chosen...You _know_ of his affliction? ~ The demoness was in her daydream, his face so vivid as she bowed to say hello again.

She was jealous before though of the sun boy, Aiden. But if all went well, the brat would just remain second best to the king's own one son. Roko was her lord's aspect. His madness and despair in that desert setting so long ago. (In Wattpad story! In this arc I have left the way to look up this author and eh, that would be me. 'The Aspect' listed is in first three chapters so go see what she means by a desert setting!)

~He has forgotten my face which is perfect for our plan to succeed. ~ The king smiled as if happy to see her too. Roko was being fed off of in the other world of the present day. Her eyes hung back in their sockets as the drooling dopple stared back into space and time by the false bliss endowed unto her. He was radiant in her eyes. For before, Rokuro had tried to dissuade the dopple from forming an alliance with the king but...no more! She was stricken by those sights of a deadly serpent.

~The boy Marcus is the _perfect_ replacement!-

~No, a carrier.~ The king whispered in the demoness's dainty ear as they started to waltz by the conductor's decree.

~Sire?~ Roko blinked as her other body was being pushed, wroughly hung upside down in order for the vines to take her manna by force from the daemon's own spirit.

(Dark but no graphic upsets! Just the demon being bad and Roko being spellbound while, eh..bound and gagged? Like fear gas but as stun spore poison really. She is lazily assuming that he is there to whisk her away, but our old enemy is not in the mood to charm a damsel in distress. He needs fighters , not lovers. Also on one series of Anime spin offs, I learned of something a bit crazy...If a person is hung upside down for a max of two hours it causes pressure and then...not going to explain the rest, if you get it..too barbaric honestly but that scene was in there...since Roko is always a punching bag to her lord dragon. Sad sad story...Continuue!)

~You look as if the strix had left you as you were, my purest rose with thorns extra...-

~My _lord!~_ Roko fell, her body collapsed with a heaving breadth as the vines were snapped altogether. Roko looked up in a daze as if shaken from her paradise too early. ~ Huh...?Wh? -

/

~You broke a tenth of your last vow, demon.~ The voice came from one still searching her eyes with a firey intent. As if today were worth anything more, Lady Amelia,the extra dopple had heard just about enough.

 _~Your_ lord? Don't you know how to _share?~_ The dark haired child scoffed and let the aspect before her gather back up her surroudings.

~You, _brat!?~_ Roko did and gasped by how any of this was at the least supposed to have...R-

 _~R..No!~_

It was too late. His name was a memory but his face she had never forgotten. The same bloody fate as the sun child..

~You are clutzy for a demon , ya know?~ The aspect tilted her head to appear innocent but Roko knew the face of this figure's true reason for coming.

~Any luck keeping the miko child in line?~ The elder asked as she dragged her dirtied body up from the floor.

Amelia hummed to herself as she tried to remember the very events, yet her eyes held something else. My main body , that Ami is clever. She has a plan to free both she and the guardian phoenix's messenger from the page-

~What did you _do!?~_ Amelia gasped and saw then the lost forever pages of the Manifesto...his body...on the carpet. Her ears burned hot. ~That was the plan! Why did you wreck it before I could get even with my opposite!?~ She screamed in Ami's thirteen year old voice, with her face.

~They are fine, _nuisance.~_ Roko snorted and tossed back her long hair with a grunt. ~ Besides my siesta having been cut short, your enemies are still in existance.~ Roko explained.

 **~How!?~** Ami shouted. ~ That was the _very_ void created b-

~ My lord can fix all of this, he insisted that I do away with his competition early. ~

Amelia gulped and stepped back, seeing Roko's darkness with her own eyes open wide to the possibilities.

~Then, his power-

~ The girls are fine .~ Roko shrugged , then opened up a rift with her insignia twin blades. ~They are, at a pause within their story if I were to describe it any better. ~ The daemon finished before slipping through the open vortex while her lackey still had a lot to learn. Anya had failed, Ava was too powerful. Anna, seemed to be impressive as well. But the youngest was the keyin this current arc( fourth wall enough? I tried?) She would set the ball rolling and make it so that her brother's fate was sealed forever.

~The sun daughter is my target..Leave her-

~I have a _better_ job for you.~ Roko's voice echoed as her body began to slowly fade from sight.

~Go and see how daddy is doing in Sanremo!~ The perky attitude of couse was to mock Ami but it hit Amelia just as hard. She had those memories , Ami's few that still remained of her life as a human and alien child...A Tamaranean daughter and a mortal inflicted by a curse. As well as a gift to counter it by Amaterasu's blessing.

~Her life is the key. Find the holy mirror that will reveal the true name of the sun deity- it will break the child and then..you will have her.~

Amelia knew the trick to opening a solar maiden's heart. You had to try our hardest to care to even throw her off guard. The sun was warm and bright, yet the flames that it emit from up in the sky were arrows pointed directly at worthy adversaries and enemies alike.

~Thank you for that tip. ~ Roko replied before letting her body completely disappear. ~ It will come in handy for _you_ as well.~

The dopple of Ami's opened her mouth to question that advice, though soon found herself alone in the room with the supposed corpse of a fallen Manifesto.

~I could end up like him if I do not watch my back.~ The girl shuddered before also transporting herself back to the event of a single Italian town.

/

Stopping this chapter along. Was it pretty dark enough? Well, a twist was what I thought the plot needed . Aiden's aspect was devoured by Apep in the previous new gen arc. Due to this, Aiden is now vulnerable to corruption by any demon's attack on his mind. If Marcus embodies his old foe's new aspect or if Roku's idea of a container holds, Aiden will not have a 'good side' to turn back in to. He will have only himself as the king's late weapon to take back the Universal crown for the returning king. Roku knows this but has also reclaimed Manifesto's power of Manifestation to strengthen his own. Now, he can create anything he wants while Roko makes trouble at her lord's disposal.

What about the two heroine's still trapped inside the world created through Manifesto's pact? Is Ami now going to have the promise handed to the devilish Lord Roku? Amaterasu's mirror was not her own in the myth but it brings to light the aspect of Light and of Ami's role to later play. The solar maiden is a threat to Roku since she can break the hold he'll hope to have over Aiden- the chosen dragon of the golden dawn's protector.

Lot to add but stick around! Biting my lip to shreds over finally having escaped the dreaded chapter thirteen loop. Took forever to get it posted up. Not superstitious because in cultures such as India I read once through numerology, thirteen was a pretty special number- no joke! If anyone wishes to know the book's title or author, I still have it. A guidebook on how to use numerology to understand every aspect of a person or yorself in read, very easy to understand despite doing math not unlike sudoku? (I am not a big math lover, algebra I could handle..)

Reading for others is different, since you would only hear what you yourself would wish to hear if you read your own fortune. To read another's is not to have a psychic presence, perhaps interperating the body language, history and emotions works best but not into tarot , medicine cards were more my pastime.

Not always true not to dsagree with some sceptics, if you have a stromg will power against falling into the same trap as some of my characters have,(Not in a dramatic fashion of course.) More philosophical by decision, it just works I think to relate the characters by their pain, joy, relief, everything is interconnected through countless emotions, despite the era there figures were born into. Bit euphoric so don't take it too well to heart - the story is just turning the tide!

Part two, let's see so read on and stay curious for more!


	16. Chapter 16

Teen Titans; New Generations- The StorytellerArc- Manifesto Pages Part Two; Chapter 15: Here We Go Again- Black Widow Vengence- The Story Lives On.

/

 **~Aaaggh!~** Ming operated by stealth. Alue had to swiftly counter the cat's claws as she bit back while being forcefully dragged through the Eternal's darkened portal way.

~My powers are enough to snap your limbs apart!~ Aluehainyu threatened the Tenkit assassin , as she could handle the snarling, but the kicking and screamimg had to stop.

~Darkness _follows!~_ Further away from the catfight, Ming added partners quickly. Alue had threatened to kill , Agatha swatted the siren Esme as the diva rushed in once things had gotten too heavy for her comrade. Ron had left the group to rush after Vespa as he had promised to stop her once and for all .

 ** _"Go!"_** Cliff shouted out as his cousin took the fall- He had promised to aid the chosen. But now..

Ron had lost sight of Vespa and the Titans. A fiendish evil had dragged poor Ronald into the world of a monster- the mind of a cretin from the depths had given the future lightening daemon lord reason to do battle.

Ronald had remembered his true name from his time as Sayumon's rebellious younger kit. It enraged the daemon in him to seek out the fox's new enemy hiding inconspicuously among the shadows. (eh)

/

~Face me here an' now! -

The shock however was sudden. The figure chuckled and tossed its head back to laugh a rather cruel laugh. It mocked the deity of lightening to be this way, making him feel less secure in his own skin.

~Gods be it...You...are -

~I hated my cell. ~ The creature spoke. Ron for the first time in a long time, felt his spirits drop. ~You...you are dead!-

~In that cell..~ The being continued. ~ There were no walls. No doors, not any ounce of magic but an empty existance for me to...As they call...'reflect on ones' actions.'~

~You were executed for the right reasons!~ Ron growled with his tails catching light to use against the dog's old nemesis.

~They put you to good use as fodder for creation- no longer chaos as you saw fit!~ Ron was correct as the figure fully materialized. ~I was chaos if ever given the chance to claim my rights. ~

Roku appeared from within the darkness and spoke with his hands behind his back, calmly assessing the brat's temper. He had to act carefully. Guardians were nothing more than rabid dogs with inherited shock collars. For a gods' protection, this was to keep them in line. The gods hated Elemental beings. They were too unpredictable with their powers. Just as the heroes on Earth were never fully forgiven..

 _~Rights?~_ Ron sneered by the ugly word. ~ You almost tried to erradicate what you had!? The story told us enough- I promised to listen to that much of Kaien's end. Apollon saw you when you were burying kingdoms left an' right.~ He confessed. ~ My uncle saw you draw your blade from the breast of your own _father!-_

~It was a _casting._ I had to keep him from foiling my later plans. He was not Azag you know... Destiny blathered about our relationship? He's passed on! Why should I give a **damn** about a daemon whom still called me out as a 'bastard son.' Still, I was above him anyhow.~ Roku snorted.

~He made you give up that relic- the one that could have' destroyed the kid! We were glad to be rid of you!-

~Looks like this 'Manifesto'... has made a mess in trying to assume the role. He's dead too you know.~ The dragon seemed to be distracted by how the void looked less like his own kingdom of past histories. With a snap of the dragon's fingers, the space was then alit with candles. Red drapes hung around the space as the male's own personal haunt. Red, his favorite color.

~Dead?~ The daemon elemental son wrasped and shook his head. ~It was a bloody book, why was-

~You..you found a way in when his back was turned! You crook!-

~I make my way inside of the space in which 'like minds' inhabit. Slade Wilson, Regis Holstein, Richard Grayson? They all let me in for some time. But Slade still has my deepest thanks...Regis was a coward whom worshiped me within an ugly cult HE HIMSELF had created...~ The king shrugged with a huff. ~Hmm, but yet he tried. Now,there is someone else I yet again..Yearn to, connect with.~

Ron seethed as he rejected the invitation. He knew what Roku was after. Ron let his tails expand to create a wall of fire. Roku was not escaping again to the other side.

~You have ideals I do not approve of. None of my kin care to give a damn about your petty plans! ~

 _~Petty?~_ The king felt he'd been accused of this too many a time and scoffed by the irony of his situation. ~ I am a villain! Nothing I do can ever be considered truly 'petty!'..I know that well, Ronald.~ The dragon chuckled.

~At least- your mother certainly does-

 _~DAMN **YOU!~**_ Ronald shouted while still keeping his wall lit. Roku was going to be maimed here . He was not leaving out of that illusion of a doorframe. Ron...He'd be sure to finish the job personally before things got out of hand a third time. Besides, Sayu had been an earlier victim of Roku's vile curses. She had been afflicted by a deadly black widow spirit . Like a devil hound sent to destroy Ron's family...This time it was entirely personal.

Roku was sentenced to die again in this very spot. And yet, the dead king radiated a power that the lightening dog had never seen. It drained him as he came close to the dark lord's face. He felt his knees wobble, it was the dragon's influnlence! He had become much stronger!

~Still can't manage to land a hit. And after Verra beat you to the _PUNCH_ !~ The dragon pushed the daemon dog closer to the door he was guarding for dear life. ~ I ...am not trying to fist it outta ya...~ Ron spat out what felt like a ripped fang from his jaw. ~ My plan isn't as pure as that.~

 _~Aargh!~_ the dragon let the candles burn hot with blue and black flames. Swarming dark energy drained the pup as he started to suffocate from the smog on his mind. Roku walked up to the fox, landing his enemy a hit as Ronald fell onto his stomach by the sheer atrocity of the dragon's influence.

~Bow for me. _Good_ dog.~ Roku pat Ron on the head then walked on towards the fading barrier set in hs way. With a snap of his gloved fingers , this time the barrier fell. The room was filled with smog that made Ron cough in bouts before...

The door swung open and light rushed in. Roku had removed the seal that had kept him trapped within this endless darkness.

~I hope you'll stay here and realize that there is nothing anyone can do-

 ** _~WAIT!~_** Ron shouted and found that he had nearly grabbed Roku's leg while trying to seek out an exit.

~That didn't even make me flinch...Let's let you bleed on the floor!-

The dragon looked with a stare at the pup's arm as it spouted a wound. With a single look...He had Verra's dark ability...He had absorbed it . Ron bawled out and reclaimed his bleeding arm. He had only just felt this pain in his heart. His body could not handle the abuse he'd been dealt by a returning , turned demi god.

~ TO **EARTH.~** The dragon demanded as the portal was his ticket out. This room, would become Ronald's own personal grave, a remote tomb away from the living kin he had remaining.

Ron screamed and cursed out his rotten hand he'd been dealt. His fox fire burned as a scar formed while the deity son had time to heal.

His eyes lit golden as he tore himself out of the arms of the deadly smog. Roku was close! He just...

Ronald felt his body changing. His form was that of a lightening dragon now.. Roku was tugged back through the door and thrown into dining chairs created by the king's deluded imagination. At least it hadn't been a wall.

~I'll bury you back in that crypt!~ Ron breathed a heavy amount of smoke in , turning it into lightening and fire that shot from his burning throat. The king threw up a barrier and waited out his enemy's attack.

Roku snarled and with a stare in Ron's direction, time had not moved an inch - froze before dragon spoke again.

~I was going to let your death be uick and painless...But no matter!~ Roku rose slowly with the energy of his dark nature surrounding him like a suit of armor. ~Time to play dirty. I have no time to give you, pup.~

Ron growled and started to regenerate his own energy in self defense.

~And if you decide to hold me here any moment longer, I will see to it that those brats disappear from Manifesto's pages!.. ~

Ron stopped , where he levitated in dragon form, he'd been unable to finish his task. He bellowed out angrily.

~ Coward! You have no power over them- even with the book destroyed as you've said!-

~Their promise. Amelia's pact has been granted to the successor of that title. ~ The dragon replied. ~ Ami belongs to me. Anna still has rejected her darkness...But we'll just have to see if she cracks,won't we?!~

~You sick _monster!-_

~ I get that a lot more - in death mostly. But I chose to live. My time is not up! _yet!~_ The dragon breathed out more smoke as it clouded Ron's vision once more. ~ I can create confusion- now I can destroy you from the inside out properly!~ Consumed by power and corrupted by something sinester, Roku took his fire out onto Ron and showed him just how different they really were by rank and birth rite.

Ron was thrown into the door, out into the light as it seemed to only burn him to the core. It was erasing the dark essence from his flesh. Like a balm it stung, yet Ron looked around. Roku was making his way in dragon form towards another dimensional rift that was bound to lead to another time and place. Ron gasped then dove in to hit the dragon demon out in a zip* through the light encrowded space.

Roku looked like he was in some minor pain from the light's essence. He had to break from it like the parasite he was.

He was going to stay here, burned in the light. Ron would make certain of that with this final battle.

Roku roared out a curse in the 'ANCIENT' speak. Another language that only gods could ever comprehend.

~All light erase the fear of truth! ERASE WHAT YOU **ARE-** Light unto Shadow...! _DISPERSE!_ (typo?)

The light space waivered as if alive in another life. It shuddered as mirrors refracting elemental shards of crystallineglass. Ron looked up and saw the space breaking. Roku was rippimg a hole into the void - breaking free from his fate . Ron dragged himself to claw out at the evil monster, yet saw his rage in the reflection of the shimmering glassy surface created by the dragon's attempts to distract his assailant.

 ** _~Rrooookuuu!_** Ron finally pulled away in time to wrap his teeth right around the base of the dragon's tail.

Roku in a dragon's form roared out with a soundwave of deafening screeches to follow. He slowly curled back around to confront his persistant attacker. ~I am not sorry for what I did to them all! Time to send you back to mumsy, brat!~ Roku used his powers to open a second rift, just as Ron thrashed about with the dragon's tail in his jaws.

~Say goodbye- pup!~ The dragon slashed away his tail right from his body with a fierce cut, not even wincing from the act of dismemberment to his mighty form. Ron was in free fall towards the second spinning portal. He was being sent home, a hapless loser that had let a vile criminal loose unto the planes once more. He fought bravely against the pull as the red , black eyes dragon cackled in his loudest voice. ~ There is nothing lef for you to save! The Chosen childrens' fate belongs to me!~

Ron returned to his body as soon as the vortex had left him stunned, staring back like the coward he had claimed to not have been. Roku had possessed him, rage and fear had been his weapons. Ronald had been too prideful, doubtful . The dragon had defeated him..

Only until the gods took up their weapons as well once word broke out, could he be redeemed...

~I won't end this ! THE UNIVERSAL WILL SEE YOU GONE BY THE NEXT-

~Save it for my return home, whelp. ~ The dragon snorted fire as the portal soon closed, keeping Ron's words deep in his own throat. Until they'd again meet on the soil of an Earthen plane, the dragon couldn't wait to see what the future would bring.

/

Only moments before the dragon had left two others stranded and their target, assimilated as planned by the evil king's desire to rule.

"Ve..rra...~ Kaede softly called out as the decimated wreck that was Marcus's unconscious mind. She opened her eyes to the destruction and saw him floating there. Chris had not made. Had he been led stray by the same madman that had taken hold of her fear? Was Verra going to live through this in his petrified state?

~No! ~ She shook her head and her narrowed towards the pitiful pup floatimg in suspended animation. ~ Verra! I am comin!-

~Ah!~ She winced and held her skull. A psychic link..it was Haru!

~Sister..~ Kaede gasped in surprise. Sweat still coated her brow heavily since the attack.

~Kaede !~ Haru's voice was reassuring as the younger fox sister chuckled by the irony of their situation. Coughing, she tried to keep her life force strong. ~Kaede!? You are hurt!~

~Y-Yes...~ Kaede answered weakly. ~ There was another, after Marcus-

~ We are still one, a team.~ Haru firmly said with a nod in decision of the outcome. ~ You must return from your journey, quickly. Where are both Shoji and Chris? Did you find -

~ Iie...No...I...Failed, we were attacked by that intruder. The one...who was after the boy spirit.~ Kaede replied with a heavy heart. Haru was silent then tried to ease her sister's conscience. ~What did you see of the enemy? Who do you think had such intentions as to follow you?~ She asked with a deep sense of honest concern in her voice.

Kaede licked her lips..~ A monster from long before has returned . He is acting out of greed, vengence and is deceitful. Cunning as we Kitsune though more. He does have ill - will towards Amaterasu -hime..~

Haru immediately spoke up. ~ He must not be allowed freedom from the boy-

~ He has done far worse than you know, my sister...~ The spirit fox sighed* and went to return to aid Shoji who had revert to his warrior body of Veravakumu. ~ Open a gateway that lasts only a very short time. Have the spider priestess perform it. ~ Kaede said.

~ Sister...this enemy sounds too much like..who? ~She bit her lip . ~ Who attacked you, my sister!?~

~I will tell you more once I saved my comrade here..~ Kaede smiled as if this were not going to become the case. Haru nodded and understood. The kitsune sister heard another voice and jumped by how seductive this woman's tone was.

~ You have done what I had been trying to prevent from the start. The Hime of your clan's admiration will be tested in trials thanks to your incompetance. ~

Cecilia stopped the crone from breaking their link by doing as Kaede had asked. She then returned her mentor's sentiments back to the lone deity of the underworld once she'd set portal with ease and grace.

~ This was bound to occur. He was never dead , for Immortals are impossible to destroy. I too intend to live on to fight another day. My Queen, Hecate.~ Cecilia said . The team had heard the goddess softly grumble in her frustrated state.

~ Do not disappoint me, my protege.~ Hecate replied in hopes that more than one was listening.

~ If you fail, I have another who is willing to take your place as my vassal . She is also a death deity and will see to your party's execution should this enemy take what he wishes from your charges's timeline.~

~ Wait!~ Raven interrupted. ~ Queen Hecate..~ Raven turned to Cici. ~You were supposed to succeed her?!~

Cecilia lowered her head and spoke over the empath's words quickly. ~ His life force will weaken. He cannot live on Earth anyway for more than a few days before he is banished by Lorelai Ainsley's infinite curse.~

~A curse !?~ Dick said out loud, an echo followed his question in the dark of the cavernous underground.

~What did she do!...Wait...Richard Ainsley once said something..The enemy, that...He can't be on any other world for more than-

~Days to months at best. ~ Haru nodded when Cecilia had explained the Queen's castimg- the contents could banish him. No other goddess can do as Lori had in her time alive. She was once destined as the vassal both Aria and A'. The Fate deity on high of the Ethereal kingdom .

~Before she was killed she retaliated in order to keep her son safe. He never saw his father again until the incident..~

~Which is why Hecate does not trust you.~ Vespa reappeared from beyond a doorway in space and time. Raven raised her eyes to meet with the she- reaper's glaring, violet orbs.

~I am a rank below Aluehainyu. I can still wipe you all out as...my power is better contained than the Eternal's Majesty's.~

A blow at Al, this elemental was serious as her scythe stood raised in warning. ~ Come any closer and you will not return to your world. Only Hecate may allow you -

~Wrong.~ Cecilia smirked from under her dark hood. ~ The widow is here and SHE desires the outcome to be as it was to be. For WE to seek the destroyer before he is set loose on the worlds again. Step aside, death carrier-

~I am not leaving this doorway unguarded! ~ Vespa let power seep past her fingertips to reach the curved blade. Then that was her sole relic . Raven felt her powers recoverimg from the world's influence.

~Neither are we.~ Kori added as she recovered her remaining solar light that powered her star bolts( from reg comics.)

Dick took out his escrima stick weapon as Nightwing. His costume had since been beneath his evening attire. ~We are not staying put. Let us pass, Vespa-

~By Esperion you are stubborn! Die a second life time over, mortal bound!~ Vespa used her scythe to gather energy, then flung its mass into the team's circle. The one to catch the blow had been an aggrivated Cici. She sniffed and sent the blow to hit a rocky stalagtite. ~This is our fight, mano e mano.~

~In your culture's dead language.~ Vespa snorted. ~ Quit while you are ahead. The king will bleed them as the book spoke of once before.~

~Mani-

~No, the myth. If a soul stealer is lasting as his ever growing cult followers are miserable, then as misery grows in the worlds, the parasite may thrive...You knew that. Now, the boy is endangered by your interferrence!(typo)

~Boy...A-

Richard was cut off short again by the reaper mistress.

~Now, the two ...I apologise. Your sibling, Kitsune.~ Vespa continued as Haru used her magic wards to push back.

Raven aided the group with a temporary barrier. Vespa gave a temporary halt with her hand. ~Kaede..~ She cleared her throat to add.

~Your sibling let the beast grow by indecision . That is an act in which your guardian allowed. He spoke its name! You let him free the beast!~ Vespa cried out as she fought the Empath.

~Who!~ Kori begged to know as she had Haru's back while they fended off an army of underfoot zombies..Spirits that were intangible yet udead all the same. Dick slashed past and finished the sentence. Kori tried not to scream out in fright. He could see that she wanted to desperately end this.

~Marcus!? Why is he so important !-

~NOT HE!~ Vespa shouted with a shot at Cici's skull. Richard dodged the debris as Cici created a web that encased the shot. She had turned it to soot right at the sorceress's feet. The Crescendo daughter looked up to her old charges and spoke aloud, dropping her arm to her side. ~She means your leader's son.~ The seer responded .

/

"Ami!?" Anna felt a tremor form within their world. It was a break in the promise..something wasn't right.

~Kaien! What's going on!?~The red head tried to contact her fire fox ally as the school staff called an assembly to the gymnasium . ~We are getting shaken up by Ami's consciousness.~ Kaien replied.

~Why!? What did Roko do this time!-

~I..dunno...But lemme find a link. Maybe the real Ami can tell us theh' truth of this happy home.~

~Right, please.~ Ndded and ran off to find this world's sixteen year old Amelia. The ebony teen was in sight, she had just put her things together to ready for the assembly in the gym. Anna called out as her hair lashed at her already plastered face. She had finally gotten ahold-

~Wait!~ The voice came out of nowhere. Anna froze with a heaving breath and gasped. Ami.

~Ami!?~ She mnd spoke back through the link. ~ Is it really still you!? What is up with this place!? It's -

~Something changed it...I..feel funny...please! Try to escape!..-

~Ami!~ Anna caught herself and noticed that Amelia the perfect high schooler was headed her way.

~Kaien! Don't lose the real Ami. She's in trouble.~

Kaien gawked as he realized the stakes had grown steep. ~ Howya gonna find a way home with she comin' yer way! Get outa there!~ He warned. Amelia ran over and was caught in a panic. Her eyes werewide andafraid, worried likeagood student should be to the other Ami wasn't that decent.

"Hi! Oh my gosh! The whole school is in a panic...You have to go with me to the gym. Quick! We could-

Ann let out a great big sigh and felt something pop then. She breathed in before deciding what to do about..her shit luck as it was.

~It's now or never. This IS Am..Ami...She's gonna be this miss perfect...sigh..~Ann bit her lip then spoke to the frazzled teen in front of her.

"I'm going to tell you this now so don't freak out." Ann said with a rushed voice without taking a breath in right away. She licked her lips to try again.

Amelia looked back into her classmate's eyes. She was somewhat perplexed. " Why? They called all of the studen-

"You aren't you...Or, rather we don't belong here. Urgh...this is too messy...Ami! You are a genius and thirteen with a big mouth and powers given to you by!-

~Nice going kiddo!~ Kaien snorted and sped off to search for the link where the real Ami was calling for help.

"I..You aren't making sense! I'm just here! " The other girl nervously laughed but then turned back to Ann with a cross frown. "Then, what am I? Thirteen! That's impossible...What is wrong with this place? You..you don't look we-

"Listen." Ann said with a firm tongue as she stepped forwards with her breathing uneaven. Her patience shorn to threaded bits.

Amelia gasped and shied away quickly. She did not condone violence! What had she one wrong?

Ann was not giving up as she added;

"You...are not a grown up, not yet..This world was created to fool us. A cursed book, relic.. Manifesto made a promise with my sister- Amelia do not have a thing for Marcus. He is slime. He used the book to keep you stuck here and I am busting out with you. We are not attending a funeral . That assembly is just a trick-

"No! " Amelia shook her head with her head spinning. "I am here! I exist! Stop it...If..if you need to talk to-

"No! YOU ARE THE FAKE! My Ami is not in denial! She's a freaking fighter and you should just wake up and realize that nothing here is real!?"

"What is then?.." Amelia's voice was weak and shaken. Ann smoothed over her emotions enough to speak out. "Out there, you are thirteen with the power to get us home. Right now someone is holding the real you hostage. Can you feel her energy? Can you? She loves science, pop culture and music...playing pranks and causing a lot of trouble for me...please..is she there? I know he is but do you!-

"I...Don't know! Who are you? Wa!-

"Ok Kaien! Plan B!" Anna shouted so that her comrade could come running.

/

~You made er' cry. Nice shot ta' the heart ther'.~The fox rolled his eyes as this plan was shot full of holes from the start.

Amelia saw the dog and screamed, pointig as if it were a rat, not a ghost.

~As an uncle I am appauled! She's dancin' like I'm some menace on all f...oh...~ The dog chuckled and realized that that was EXACTLY the problem. "D-dog...g-ghost dog!" Amelia screamed and jumped up again, trying to gather her courage back from the hands of these...Freaks!

"Oh yeah?! " Anna barked back to her compadre. "Then if you know what CAN be done, do what I say so we can go home and sleep off this crazy-

"Aahhhh!" Amelia tried to fly off but Kaien slipped by to block the teen's exit. ~I can't let ya pass me by! Pops would roast me for it !~

"Pops!? What are you-

"You and I have parents , Ami-

"Stop calling me that! I'm not whoever she is ...not y...you are crazy! I'm-

"In that world you owe a goddess your time and energy so you convert to the rites of Shinto. Sorry! " Anna grabbed Amelia's arm as she tugged the teen to go her way. Wherever that led..

"Waah!" Ami, Amelia...Was not amused. She acted like a sc- They were in a prep school. That was understood pretty well...Redundant even.

"Kaien! Any spots available!-

"What are you!-

"Quiet a second!" Anna shot back. They were being followed.

~Company's comin' in hot!~ Kaien shouted and revert to his warrior form. ~Nothing personal, dear-

The growl of ten beastly shadows loomed about the walls as they danced, closer in as the two teens reacted . Kaien drew his power of the sun well as any elemental could by force..Yet that face was there.

"You are!-

"Apollo...good luck!-

Ann was a bullet as she took the teenage Ami with her through the soon to be crossfire.

Anna ran with her partner in crime as her ally held back the beasts he had sensed moments ago. The voice wrung out, finally stopping poor Kaien dead.

/

~Help is nearby. Watch your back..~

Of all his luck, ROKO flew out from the shroud and attacked. The voice however had been male. The fox's inner self bristled full of warning. He was just leaving them! ? Anna...it was a trick!

~Shoot! You...Viper woman!-

The dog growled backashe returned to standing, his legs weakened by the surprise hit to his aching back.

"I _am_ better than you, old wolf at these mindgames..~

 **~Gah!~** Kaien as Apollon had no choice. Anna was still being tailed as he stopped the best he could the certain demoness. The voice, it made his skin prickle , hot as a flamethrower, Kaien sent his blast to hit the demoness in her leg.

She bawled out with a scream. "Agh! God _damn!-_

~I'm not stayin' ta chat! Find a doctor sweetheart-

 _~Hahg!~_ The elemental male still had attackers from either side of the hall. Kaien revert to his form as the red headed dud Solario. ~You...witch...-

He readied to bite back twice oncethe demoness had healed..top speed that usual. She had a powerful ally..Just who!?

"I've...Been called **much** worse..." The demon lady healed the rest of herself as she stood and dragged herself to walk up ahead. Kaien wouldn't have it. He flung himself forth and pulled her down. She kicked and hit him with her boot in the chin. "Not your doll! I _have_ a master!" She shouted with her fangs at the ready. "Ha!" The dog was slashed in the chest by her hidden blades. "Up...must..finish this...-

Roko groaned and lifted herself from the floor as Kaien forced himself to heal with the last of his lesser strength.A god always kept a decent backup supply of raw energy for emergencies .

~Solaris **DECREE!~** Kaien watched the demoness as she walked through a light that could scar a demon's flesh to damnation. "Not...losing them!" Why was the girl so determined!? Kaien sped up but a vine that the woman controlled shot out to stop the lug. She laughed in her manic way as Roko started to feel her strength returning.

~What!?.. ~ Kaien grunted with a gasp in disbelief.

Roko turned her face around to see over her shoulder HIS expression. "I am loved ! You are dead here and now! AAHAHAHAHAAAA!" The girl looked like her head would fall to the floor by that position. The only demon she ever listened to had been...

~You _never_ let sleeping dogs lie...They need to be exterminated as the mongrels they _are!...~_

That voice rang out and Roko swelled with excitement as she rushed after Anna and her false sister with her tongue flailing out of her mouth- like a damn lapdog! It WAS HIM!

~Nice comeback.~ Kaien huffed as the vines continued to hug him silly. The boots of a rather strong individual had the sun sire look to the direction in which he'd lost sight of. Anna was on her own..

 _~Roku_ .~

~Good ole' Uncle Kaien is it now?" The dragon's voice now sounded too normal. He was turning to form, gaining back his body piece by piece.

"I should thank you for tugging that goddess's chain a bit. Very amusing. You went off like the lone wolf you are..But a _softie?.._ That was a shocker-

"Loosen me up an' we can flail about all ya' wish." Kaien relased the speak from his bones to save Anna the trouble of being found. "Humm, no. You look to be less aggressive..That old you was a real 'dog'. Not the kind we daemon don't particularly care for. Lilu was my mentor after all." Roku chuckled and snapped his fingers for the binds to tighten.

"The whip finally cracked that gal's skull , huh? was an alter YOU bore unto our world!" The scoldimg earned Kaien a twist in a funny place by those distracting vines. What were they? Projectiles? Extensions?

 _"Ahh,_ your humor has never had the kinks removed from your pitiful dialogue for generations. Why **do** you wear a mask?.. What happened to the sun prince? Did those children ever discover your alleigiance with a certain figure? Must mean they cannot trust you-

"Keep the kiddos _outta_ this!" The dog snarled with his teeth beared. "They have a mission an' I'm gonna let that be all they can do ta get outta yer -

"Too long, you are boring me to tears agin, Uncle Kaien!-

"Shut it you brat!-

 **"agh!"** Kaien felt the real whip cack against his spine as the vines grew as angry as their master was in secret No secret now, he hated being called a kid.

"I have a portal to ready. _You,_ have a role left as the dead animal companion, returned to his beloved comrades." Roku pretended to sniffle. "I do hate tragedies. They leave you wonderimg about the real ending! ~

"An' you can shove it till you remember your' manners like a good prentice to the witch! She beat you and yer kids! You are not a monster if you ju-

"Monster?" The king seemed taken aback. _"Me?_ I am just trying to find my way back home. Roko was happy enough to escourt those two to a nearby exit. But you. You do not the fit the material..You story will only be forgotten. "

"Gon' then trap me in your pretty pages o' _woe_ an' _misery!"_ Scoffed the fire hound. He was possibly on the ball with that. How else would Roku be able to keep his enemy from getting set free with his comrades? This book was a prison in itself. Manifesto had been a tool with a brain now turned to ash. Roku was the new Manifestation god . At the very lest, he should have relayed his plans like a true villain.

Yet Roku seemed reserved, only talking in bouts to conserve vital. energy as he became used to his brand new fate.

"How about this then?" Kaien raised the dragon's suspiscion as the evil mastermind could only raise a brow- stroking his chin with intrigue. Well, villain were gamblin' men. When Shoji had gone underground well before meeting the Heroes of Earth, he'd gotten his fill of what it had been like spyimg on the top dogs of crime, turning to their favour to find the real culprit. In the end, it costed Verra his dearest love and their one child whom the couplehad given to a friend to save from harm.

Kaien grunted and began to relay his thoughts, he wanted Roku to stay put long enough to be distracted. Kaien was a great nuisance to use for that. It was his fifth favorite past time. Next to the mini bar, being a hot shot executive for the fashion industry- Having a separate role as a Universal spy for the deities Athena and Hecate. Or even having still a soft spot for his charges..

"What if we say, make it a game."

"A, _game?"_ Roku raised a brow.

"Yes, sir. I think you've had too much of all seriousness to deal with. Why not make my last hurrah a real knock out , eh?"

"You desire your demise? Or are you masking your true inten-

"Naaw!" Kalam shook his head . "I just gave my all to save the kids in my care. She wants me to come back but if I go from here, I get revived so if you were to do me in, I'd still rise up. "

"That is why I have decided not to kill you, instead I intent to keep you inside this story for a while. " Roku seemed to lose interest.

"Come **on!"** Kaien goaded his captor. "Don' you wanna see me bleed on the floor a little? I know demons are fond of lots o-

"I am not a true demon you know, _Kai._ Lilu raised an Immortal, bound spirit. When I had turned, I had never been granted her powers but my own were seen as an abnormality to my tutor's ...allies.. I was still a god even after my judgement day, that is why even out of an interdimensional hell she will still berate her only protege ." Roku said this with firmly crossed arms.

"I am Eternal, I will never be seen by any as a true 'demon '. So please, if we are finished here- you can go back to sleep inside your nightmare realm-

"I'm not gettin' pricked by a pri-

The vine had thorns as the prodded the daemon dog's fore arm. Kaien winced by the pain and knew that Roku had injected him with something toxic to keep him dreaming.

"You won't die here, but if you are decided the fate of having lost those children, well. "

"You...are...an..."

"Insulting me will make the poison spread quicker." The demon reminded his foe. "I know that the sun sets quickly , so let us part. Amelia is still under my care. You'll be disregarded until she closes this chapter by her craft..I'll see to a then end especially for my old -

"I...cough!*...Am...Not...goin..ogoing...t-t-o...LIE **HERE!"**

The fire in his veins exploded as pieces of Roku's vining incarnations splattered the walls as blackened sludge.

"Executing your thrice ain't gonna be a blast- I'm gonna enjoy humiliating the great murdering liar _YOU'VE_ **BECOME!"**

 **/**

BACK TO THE CLIFF - Let it drop! Summer's been a bummer. Stomach hates me this month( boo global warming is a big culprit. Human enough..sigh..) Yup, my fingers are moving faster than they could in winter - so I can easily type this with ample dexterity to boot!

The next chapter will be pretty crazy as well. (And I like my stories extra chaotic at times.)

As usual, read on and stay curious. Movin' right along for chapter 16. Look forward to it!


	17. Chapter 17

Teen Titans; New Generations; Storyteller Arc Part Two -The Manifesto Pages; Chapter 16: Bittersweet Hello- Bite Your Tongue- Doorway To The Other Side.

/

Aiden and his comrades had to keep an eye on the ugly oaf, Charl. While Aiden was busy thinking back ' looking back ' on events that had spiraled out of his control, Damian and Zatara took it upon themselves to see if the sorceress of their team could contact the other lost members.

Dami paced impatiently while Aiden's eyes scanned the dirt floor for a way out. He was ashamed. What did they mean by ...

~Oh! Thank goodness!~

Piper had intercepted the call, she'd still been bouncing all across Tokyo for information. Now, Zan had to be extra cautious. Aria was the woman's ally after all.

~You...that is not at all how I pictured your fight...incredible- but where are you inside the building?~

~We are in an underground lab...one that was supposedly abandoned by how it was ...it-

"Someone blew it topside we think...Probably to hide a few dirty deeds conducted with the country's government " Dami received a stare from both his teammates for the down right slander of Takahara's corporation. However , Piper sighed through the link, shaking her brunette skull. Damian raised a brow as she added;

~He's not wrong actually. That was the same basement laboratory where Agatha had been...Brought into existance. She had been reborn, but we think. Still, you should leave that spot quickly. Dark energies are prone to gradually finding old , torn down places like this a safe haven - over time they become visible and later are unable to leave..What one calls an earth bound spirit is similar to this fact*(Do not take as full fact!)

She adjusted her reading glasses. Her glasses slipped a bit as she pushed the again into place. Piper made a hand motion to her companion in the room back at the towering record label's main office. She was a director of sorts, not just a scout.

~The best way to evade the demons is to...Ooh my!~

Piper gasped and dropped her clipboard.

~Miss! We have an issue at the Eternal world summit! There has been a breach!~

~Skylar..~ The record keep of her realm tsked* at her luck then set a direct response back to Zatana of Earth.

~I am sending someone who can guide you out of the basement before it-

~Piper? Piper!~ Zan huffed and looked over to her cokmrades with a groan. "I lost the link but we cannot stay put."

"Then why aren't we -

"It..this place is still trying to trap us inside." Aiden gulped as his arms started to feel lighter. He stood up and swayed a bit, feeling sick but not hoping to pass out.

"Are you sure? Charl was the one-

~ I did help! But I am not the mastermind for this maze- Marcus was! Yess! Now, he is empty inside and out. I warned you! This place is the crypt of my REAL, TRUE MASSTER!-

"Someone, pleease! Just shut him up!?" Aiden was not ok, he doubled over and nearly fell to the floor. Charl in his impish guise only laughed and pointed at the fallen chosen's state. ~You should fix it! He can fix you before you go...poof! Haha!~

"Eh...ha..-

"No! " Dami swat out at the magical bars that kept the imp in line. "Stay put or so help me!..-

~Heroes making threats are true criminals! How awful of you!~

Dami lost the color in his cheeks by that comment. "You..are just a caged crook yourself. Goading us is not gonna lighten your sentence."

"I...see someone...up there!-

Damian let go of the bars and watched where Aiden was pointing.

"It..can't be..."

The star studden solo artist Lisa Viscado had made her reentry. Only, Aiden looked like a truck had run him over!

"Piper just opened a portal, and they sent me to help . "

"But..wa- wait!" Damian stammered. "You have a power or something? Since when? "

~Ohhh, she is special, the demons will not eat her...she is of pure light!~ The imp noticed that Alicia's energy lay beneath the teen's exterior. The child of A ...This was bad news. She had ruined the king before! He had to get a signal..waait...

~This realm we are in now is darkness, like the record woman said?~ He asked from his cell.

"How do you know her title? Wh...an imp!?"

"Alicia?" Zatara did not remember everything, but she remembered a British accent as well as the other that was less so defined.

~I do I do! I visited her world and met a creature of dreams and waking ! He was the one I impersonated! What fun! The Light Lady is under that one's spell. The real dream master is still unaware!~

"You...did that? To Lady Light, I will make sure to relay this to my comrades in the Eternal-

"But we have to move!..."

Dami blinked up to Zan and was taken, set off track by her expression.

"Wh..what?"

"Piper, was right..."

The shadows took on the forms of those from eras that had existed, as if Youkai on parade.

"Bad day bad dayy!" The team scooby doo'd it from the room as fast as their legs and levitation spells could carry the wary crew.

~Kampaiiii!~ A bunch of older office worker ghosts had been floating above the group drinking beer and sake as Charl laughed at the mischief this world was capable of causing .

~Motto motto! I wanna see your chaos, brothers!~

"SHUT UP THAT IMP BEFORE HE!-

The flash of light was the end. Aiden dove to get Lisa out of the way. The imp grew to resemble a burly troll. His ears and nose still remained relatively the same.

"TSUKIYUME!~ Lisa cried out as the sky started to form...Ukiyo?

~Hai hai!~ The snow weilder set her glaciers ablaze as the characters of her original homeworld were split down the middle.

~Why did you not call for me sooner!~ The deity scolded Lisa, even with Aiden deathly pale as if having caught fever from an underlying issue. ~Is he alright?~ The maiden of snow asked as the team held off as many angered youkai as they could.

"He thought he saw a ghost?" Zan shrugged but then apologized. "No, he bumped into the enemy who possessed poor Glen. We think it was-

~The Eternal realm wasn't counting on a sooner reaction..but the boy is I'll due to the arrival of one opposite his magic.~

"Aiden?" Lisa exclaimed.."Why is he sick? He was fine this entire time!"

"Then, someone did get too close.." Dami remembered the feeling of being watched. It was not necessarily Charl.

"What do you mean?" Zan asked.

"I mean, we have been let on by a crazy lunatic that can change this place whenever they want! I think Charlie needs to wisen up , we have to get him by the snout. I want answers!"

/

Dick and HIS allies stood dumb in front of the lady reaper. Her words made the red head in their group also shout back with a frustrated cry.

"Aiden!? Why must this be any of your issues? We are his gnorfkas . You are a stranger , even when the ones who cared for you tried to trust you. You took our team to Italy, we listened but now..."

Kori lit her starbolts and had no intention of holding back.

"You will either help us to defeat this up- and -coming evil , or we shall be forever enemies!"

Vespa burst out laughing. Her scythe swung in a sharp curve towards the deity's door. Hecate's domain was what he had been guarding? Raven tried to understand the situation. She could not grasp the reason, perhaps seeing the goddess was taboo without an invitation? She was an old world cult's lone goddess after all, very private.

~Ahah! You _must_ be joking! I was afraid that you would kick me to the curb , but no! I **do** desire peace. My mistress was clear; the chosen's light is too the Phoenix in his realm is not saved from burning a second lifetime...The boy too will not be able to continue walking the Earthen plane's path-

"My bumgorf is NOT for you to experiment on!" Kori set out a bolt to fly and hit the reaper's scythe with a loud clank* . It still stayed within Vespa's unwavering grasp. ~ Your son WILL if you do not comply with we daemons and gods! An unholy aura surrounds them, your children are all in peril as we speak...Because f a force that has returned to plague the forgiven...~

"What?" Dick was nervous now.."Who is the one we should be prepared to fight? Your queen, or another spirit world being-

~An Eternal with the powers of an Immortal.~ Alue was stricken by that thought. Her mouth ran dry. "Richard?" Kori's hands shook as she pictured her children scattered by an evil shadow in the darkness of space time.

"You are not kidding, not this time. " Raven said with her eyes narrowed at Vespa .

~A nemesis that did not die by his cult only growing with the misery of your time. The dragon lives inside the pages of another tale. ~

"He's back.." Richard growled under his breath.

"That monster **didn't** disappear forever!?" Kori reacted with her hair in tangles by the news. "That evil man- demon is alive!? Hoiw is this possible!?-

~He revived himself.~ Alue thought as her serious eyes became strained.

"He's going to go after Aiden then, that's why you wanted to protect-

~You fought,we lost _because_ of the Guardians and their pride.~ The doors to the domain of the dark queen of the Grecian underworld emerged. She had such an appearance of a woman of power that it radiated off of her to catch the heroes in a net, a web of the great widow's own concoction.

 _~Cecilia?~_ Alue saw the darkly clothed witch from behind the tall form of Hecate. ~I am the obvious choice. I had returned to see to Lady Crone Hecate's pact with the Daia and Crescendo. Mother is worried for you , heroes. It was all business, and the perks aren't many.~

~You should let free that ego of yours. ~ Hecate reminded Cici through the mind spoken link. ~It will consume your kindness, rip it and feed it to your selfishness and vanity. ~

~I am the carrier of the Widow Deity!~ Cici replied to the goddess as if they were good friends. How had she gotten through so easily?

~My Lady Deity, **Hecate!~** Vespa fell onto one knee as a knight to her highness of an alternate underworld.

Hecate stopped to see the team scattered by her doorway. She knew it was time to accept a truce.

~Rise, my soldier of the fallen.~ Vespa nodded and did this in spite of being in the presence of her employer.

~Titans of Earth, Guardian, Lady Aluehainyu of the Eternal faction's court.~

The team waited for the goddess to speak again. She stood as a statue and let her breaths rise and fall very slowly before finally having the words to give . Her words were law in this part ofan alternate purgatory.

~You were stranded here, how do you _intend_ to return? ~ The deity asked, playing the game by making her subjects think ahead.

~We don't know yet. My team was sent here to stop ...Wait! What a-

 _~Aagh!~_ A portal opened before any could raise a finger. Hecate smiled and smoothly glided over to a girl in white- it was Agatha!

~Let..me...I am not going back! Grant me power again! I _won't_ face my past!-

 **~Quiet!~** Hecate spoke and instantly, Agatha felt her chest beat at a proper rhythm. ~I...Am not going to apolgise-

~Why should you try to now?~ Hecate had not forgotten her guests. ~ Agatha. You, _you_ were a Delphi Unit Priestess of the sect catering to she of Wisdom. Athena- Why did you run from that ruined sect? What changed you, child?~

Agatha's lip wobbled and before long, she found her body returning to that of her powerless self. Graced with the robes of a deity's humble Priestess, Agatha only bowed her head in silence. ~ I am unwell and cannot. ~ She replied with her eyes shut tightly.

~It was love, one that you yourself imagined to have been true. ~ Hecate was amazed not by how the girl had thought the goddess blind,yet she had kept this secret even once it had been told through the ages. She had the power to erase memories. Why then did this current self not have such a power?

~Ravenna was cold! She was _**my**_ teacher! I was a _terrible_ student...And now, the Borgges child is going to perish...I was evil for a while by my regrets...I don't love what I have become...~

"Marcus? Didn't he do what ...I'm confused." Richard searched Raven for an answer, but her eyes had changed as well. She was being overshadowed by the spirit of Ravenna.

~Before you expect pity from an old friend, please know that the pain you caused was not for having left the sect ,you were our joy. You left due to jealousy. You became your own enemy-

~I couldn't control...it...~ Agatha sniffled. ~ I was a _monster!_ The pillars fell because of **_me!_** The Chimera came and you...You shoud have let me fail with the worthless!-

 **~Never** speak of your former life!~ Ravenna snapped. Agatha held her hands over her own mouth and tried to stop the tears. ~ You've always hated me for being w-

~Why did you think love was the key? _Would_ it have made your magic stronger? No.~

"I think you are being harsh with..-

 _~Arianna_ would in fact be thinking the same where she now dwells. I need not be reminded of her presence. ~ Ravenna huffed. She walked up to Agatha and embraced her ally in a bear hug.

~ We _were_ friends- if that was not enough, I could have only remained you teacher. That was never the reason why we wept for you. You will always be no matter what time tells of your story, a Delphi Child. You are now a sensation all by your power, no matter how great. The power of Song has enabled you in this life far better than when you ran from the temple as an outcast. You were afraid to see my face, like your mother whom you've never even seen. .~

~Yes!~ Agatha wept into Raven's chest. ~ I don't want to lose anyone _again!~_

~Good girl..you have grown. .~ As Agatha kept shrinking back to the size of a fourteen year old teenager, Raven had just come back up from being used by a spirit of her knowing. She bliked and saw Aggie hugging the empath with all her might. The light manifested itself as the demons were finally cast out of the child's body.

~ Hi, _again?~_ Raven smiled down to the girl as if they'd be staying this way for a while more. Aggie looked up with her silvery blue eyes and smiled. ~ I missed you guys _**soo**_ much!~

/

Anna tugged poor Amelia away from the crumbling building within the false reality- now owned by an unknown evil that had attacked Uncle Kaien. Marcus couldn't have been the culprit. Nothing looked to right as the grey colours bled in with the newer reds and orange hues. The sunset overhead was ending their story within Manifesto's pages as the girls ran for dear life.

~We have to find her!-

~Then you **DO** have your memories! ~ Gasped and with a sigh of relief as the two continued to leave the scene behind. They came across a stretch of darks woody branches that furled and unfurled their iron limbs , to become those creeping vines again!

~Solar _**SPARK!~**_

Amelia dragged out her power in the form of her future self and let the vines retreat into the shadowy pages.

~And our powers are ok too! _Awesome!-_

~Not ok, big sis!~ Ami got into fighting stance once a hoard of one eyed hounds had the advantage..

They scared the teens and pushed them deeper into the ink drawn forest. There was a hill drawn by an imaginary blot of ink as it fell, the two girls tumbled and landed right where a path was set into a mound of ungroomed , untrimmed hedges. This had to be the way out.

~Someone is ticking me **off!~** Anna got up and stomped over to the hedge's opening. As the two kneeled down like an Alice in wonderland scenario to see in through the passageway, Ami dove in first with Anna second- screaming herhead off as the two fended off ugly beetles from crawling all around them. The ink blot illustratorhad seen enough and spat the two out as they slip ' n slid down down down, into a grove that was no longer within a living realm.

Inky stretches were coated everywhere within this location. Not vines, yet webbing.

 _~Spider!..~_ Anna whispered in a high squeak as she then realized that the giant, hovering, ink drawn arachnid was guarding something...

 **~A..ami!?~** Anna gasped and knew that they had hit rock bottom but this was sheer luck. They could save Ami anfd go back home!

~The princess wept as her tears became real- eight legged foes that could bite and could feel. The revert to this form to lay waste to -

 _~Narrorator!~_ Ami shouted as the spider awoke. It screeched out as it the miny spiders started to fall as black tears from the eyes of a veiled maiden within the larger spider's strong web.

~We have to free her!~ Amelia saw that this character was shorter and could have been the Lady Amelia suppressing(typo?) Mini Miko's Ami's true face. Anna agreed and their powers were set forth on the miniature ink drawn spider babies. As droplets continued to fall from the young captive girl's eyes, the spider guarding her seemed to have its own magic endowed by the story's creator.

~You!..Shall not win this game!-

~ _Really?!~_ Anna burst out laughing with cartoon drawn tears in her version of the story. ~That is a crappy come back from a piece of work like yourself! This _game?_ This is not even close to Tro'%:&% or anything!~ She continued to berate the demonic spider as it felt ashamed, then roared out. ( Can I mention Tron?)

~I am all powerful~ It shouted through a telepathic vibe. ~This girl can free us from this world! The strangers must be eliminated!~ The spider mastermind forced her kin with a wave of her great arms to fly upwards - they were flung up and tried to attack Amelia as she sliced them in one swift shot after another. ~ THERE ARE _WAAAY_ TOO **_MANY!~_** The wind built up as the teardrops provided the spider with bullet children . Anna destroyed one spiderling as it splattered and returned to the form of a dried, ink puddle . That gave the teen an interestimg idea as she called out to her partner.

~Hey! _Catch!~_ Anna sent a spider flying as the energy from Amelia's palm started to glow with a silvery tinge.

 _~Ah!_ W-What was that!-

The spider revert to a puddle but instead it was painted white, not dark as a calligrapher's paint. (It is ink I know, just for dramatic effect.)

~Huh!?~ Amelia was startled but the images flowed back to her,.her power was to erase corruption at its core- here and now to free her younger self!

~Here we go **now!** ~ Anna returmed to the stance of her Phoenix's late abilities. She now donned the colors of a fire bird, her to had the markings of the forgotten myth's symbolism. Her calling, was to free the sun from the darkness.

She let up her spear with also doubled as a staff that could shoot the sper point towards her enemies. Now to go on the offense.

 _ **~Hyaah!~**_ The red - head sprung up like a warrior from the abyssmal place while Amelia took to curing the spiders as they turned the inky space into a white splattered canvas. The world of the dark demons was being erased blotch by worn blotch, one coating over the other.

The spider called out as the hand that had drawn the pages reemmered to create a new scenario.

~The creator hand is our god! You cannot win !~

The white blotches had nearly encomassed the entire scene, however it was too late and they had to startfrom scrach- that hand. If only Anna could subdue it somehow.

~Don't worry.~ Amelia grinned back, which reminded her sister of happier times. ~We cannot be defeated as a team that easily. Let's take back this fairytale!~They jumped in and swiftly took to rushing after the the demon spider. Her god was about to get an ugly wake up call.

/

Kaien's power of a former volcano god had been unleashed..The destruction of the Academy where Amelia and Anna had fled into a hand drawn forest- that was the battle between former god and dragon.

Roko had made her way inside by way of teleportation to save time. Her plan had been to trap the heroes inside of their reality , but she realized that her picture perfect creations; a spider guard and a well drawn illustrator's presence, would be enough to push the two women back further into the pages of their own demise. (typo?)

~I'll visit that ornery Marcus first, to let hm have a piece of my mind. The true Lady Amelia is guarding the true Ami..which means that those two are not in the clear _yet._ ~ She chuckled darkly under her breath.

Roko slipped by the corridors where Marcus was being held within Shoji's own one place no one had checked, yet there was another presence nearby.

~Shit, the dead-

 _"Yah!~_ Ayane used her arts to encase the dopple in a blue bubble of mystic energy. Beside her was Astarte or Sara Santiago and Isa Rothschild..She was holdimg the unmoving young Borgges...

~Coming back to the scene of any crime has its limitations ya' know.~ Sara said cooly with her gun over her shoulder. A pretty prop for a powerful woman to carry. Roko started to sweat . She felt all of the womens' eyes on her and stuttered.

~i...You are making a mis-

~Roko, drop the crappy act already!~ Sara shouted with her eyes as leopard's .

"Do you really think that we'd _trust_ you? You are just as guilty as the one person you revived by your greed. " Isa responded harshly as the demoness felt her cheeks burn red.

Roko..what had she come to...Getting trapped by incognito goddesses!?

~I thought you would be with the black cat-

"Are you telling me that this was to get us killed off? Why w-

~Didn't Cecilia open a door for them...Wait!-

 _~Gosh!_ I must be a real accomplice to have pulled the wool over _your_ eyes!~ Roko grinned and held up a mock peace sign,then turning it into a thumbs down as she sneered back at her enemies.

~You made a dopple . That was **NOT** Cecilia at all!-

Roko smirked to the Lady Lori's reincarnate. Oh, this plan had its usual perks, but she loved their expressions the most. They looked to be in shock. What a thrill!

 _~Yuup!_ ~ The demoness crossed her arms smiling and pleased with her deed.

~Remember that Shoji was led back _BUT_ Cici stayed behind to help the goddess of the undead to see the light of her actions..!~ The devilish woman daemon pretended to pout her lips.

"Shoji followed the wrong...Then why? **Why** do you know all of this !?" Ayane shouted.

~My lordship is like a god now, like he was supposed to have been. Not until you got all, touchy about his plans to allow us to give A' the slip up- it took tons of powr! I had to syphon it from some bleedin' deity!~

The demoness cackled. ~He's coming back to drain the light forever from those who should have been able to defeat him. That sun child is only there to keep your charges in check. The boy there.~ Roko pointed to Marcus as he stayed spralled out in Isa's arms. ~He is going to embody the Grayson child's light, an old switcheroo! That way, we can devour it afterwards and corrupt the last one chosen Grayson, by giving him only darkness to forever embody. I don't think, that you can stop us this time. We are even taking out the Lady Ethereal as !~

~Then you've been captured. We have all the evidence to-

"But Marcus...Then Aiden... and Alicia's vessel!" Ayane gasped. "You intend to do more damage in order to remain here! We won't have it. If you per-

~Which is why you are to weak to hold me, princess!~ Roko burst the bubble with a shifty grin- more so deluded than the original. Sara shot out her gun's enhanced bullet as it splinted the bubble to fall to shards back down onto the cushy carpet.

~Isa!~ Sara shouted out. Roko was ready and already diving in for the kill as Isa Rothchild was about to conjure up Isis's magic-

 _~Yoohoo!~_ The waves and airy breeze of a creature below the carpet tripped Roko as she looked up in pure surprise. "What was _that!?"_ Ayane used her magic to clean up the sharp objects, sending them to block the path of the startled demoness.

 **~Who!?~** The gleeful , airy chuckle of a familiar song bird swept up and materialized to be none other than the famous Aria or Andrea Grotto of the Eternal Passages.

~Did you trip on a bit of _sand?_ My island is **_not_** for **you** to tread..!~ Aria smirked in her hautiest way as Roko put herself back together with a blink. "You _won't_ keep me here yet!" She snarled as the demoness still had her mask- a weapon she had tinkered with for just the right occassion.

~LOOK **_OUUT!~_** Sara cried out as the mask beamed light from one eye. A lazer was the least of there troubles as it forced Isa to errect a barrier while running out into the halls.

The group had avoided most of the shattering blow of crystal, carpet, and of course the desk that Shoji would no longer be using to finish his boring paperwork.

~My king wants _everything_ to go as planned..~ Roko hissed as she sauntered towards the exit with her enemies trying to recooperate about her feet. She returned the masquarade mask to her slim face and walked out to catch the last of her objectives. Well, Aiden was another story. He must have been dying of thirst, _yet..._

 _/_

Tsukiyume was startimg to worry. Something seemed inwell in her eyes.

Aiden had suddenly felt hungry. Ravenous even, as his breathing became haggard, his lips drier than any desert rider's could ever become.

"Aiden!?" Alicia's vessel Lisa looked over her ally and saw the s,changed from beneath the eighteen year old's fatigue.

~We have to get him away from this place, and soon.~ Tsukiyume bit her lip but could not abandon her chared. She refused while the balance was at stake.

~Corrupt them! Corrupt them my _pretties!~_ The imp Charl cackled with glee as the newest Robin hammered a fist into his cage..He had escaped twice and Zan had now to only depend on Lisa's magic to prvent her own from dying out.

"He ...He's egging those things on!" Dami shouted and ran as far as he could. Giant hungry rats , dark and shadowy took turns trying to catch the group off guard as they only burrowed deeper within this twisted rendition of a dragon lord's hell.

Aiden was in Zan's arms as Glen and Henry were no place-

 ** _~WWAAAHH!"_**

"That sounded like the wizard kid!" Dami exclaimed as the team headed for where the noise had sounded out from behind an encrypted door.

"He must have been transported like we all were. " Zan nodded and Dami took to his skill of hacking as all Robins knew from their mentor's private teachings. "Hold on..got it! It was already broken so I had luck here getting the door to open. I don't like this." Damian shook his head as the group paraded in and shut the locks tight . The rats disappeared as soon as they had slammed* hqrd against the doorframe. They were not real after all, this was not magic keeping them out..was it?

~ _Alchemy.~_ Tsukiyume noted by the signs within the dusty room. This room...She could not ueroes yet what had happened, soon but not now.. "This place was abandoned too, but its machinery is-

"Everything checks out from the gaping holes in the floor.." Dami noticed as he pointed to the exterior damage that had been done.

"So this lab was off limits, but what _happened?"_ Lisa asked and tried to find a way to materialize bread with Alicia's inner magic.

As soon as he'd seen the piece, Aiden grabbed it quickly. He gobbled it up and was still breathing heavily for another bite. His eyes were sunken in as if he were starving, an odd display compared to a few hours ago.

 _"Li...sa...Hun...gry...More..."_ He wrasped and looked worse than before- he was sick!

"Aiden is not well, what's going on?" Lisa checked his temp, his pulse. This was more than a physical was something greater than they knew to be real..

"Hun...ngry!" Aiden whined as his throat seemed to not let the real words out that he wanted to say. He was..fading again...whatever had taken him hostage before, had done something...

 _"Cr...cr...cry..s..cryst..a..lll..."_ Aiden moaned , not knowing why he had said that. Was it the demon from earlier? Had he been cursed!?

"What is he _saying?"_ Zan asked as she listened again while Damian watched the ugly eyed Charl in his saddest form.

~Boy wants red power crystal, only **HE** has remaining shards left! It brought Marcus back from dead lands! I was given my body like spirit of past, yess! And boy is right! He will suffer if you do not seek _**HIM**_ out soon!~

"What are you trying to do? Trick me into killing off my team?" Robin _snorted.."Zan!_ The bubble butt over here is playing the bad guy! You might wanna come over _heeere!"_

 **~NO** _NO!~_ Charl threw up his stubby arms in protest. ~Magic girl is not going to save the boy of sun powers!~ The imp warned. ~Only **_HE_** can do that!~

"He? He is _who?!_ Stop being such a villain and tell us hi-

 _"dra...go..n..."_ Aiden whisperered.

The ground shook around them as the walls seemed to turn inwards. They were being closed in! The heroes did _NOT_ want to be burried alive, they took flight and knew where to go.

"The exit!" The teen Robin cried as the teens and heroes with their batty enemy dashed for the door. Another door slid open and Aiden unconsciously wrenched himself free from Lisa's grip. He ran for that entrance, the trap had been set, the trick was going after the blonde before the worst had come about. Dami, Lisa, The imp under Zan's watch all were tossed in this direction not by fate- but by someone watching from above.

Tsukiyume _tsked*_ her concerns and knew that soon, the heroes would find out everything that was happening to their world. Very soon.

/

The rest is set for the next chapter seventeen! That's right! I liked how the inspiration of an old music video art style THE USED had in All That I Got ( great album for those emo - centric nostalgics of the mid 2000s..It had me devise a playing field for Amelia and Anna to fight an ink drawn demon spider. No connection to Cici's spirit pact ally, the Widow Deity.

Aiden is hungry...so much that he's starving for a 'something ' hidden within those steel walls. And what about Roko's confession? Confession time though ! I...Came to a snag in my story so the outcome here is the most predictable reasoning thus far- hey! It's fantasy. And I'm just getting warmed up. Chapter 17 will describe how gritty and intense Roku and Kaien's showdown really was.

Also, Aria is a Siren so he trips up her victims, she became the waves and morphed the carpet to become her ocean body. Roko was stunned because every time she's fought an enemy, it was always too predictable. Now, she's on her own .

Still clinging to Roku's one promise for his living , remaining aspect, Roko expects a reward for her hard efforts. She may just be pining for her lord's affections after all. Yuck! *** Roko IS Raku from his days in the Sumerian past , before the dragon took on his late role..So being an egomaniac, Roko loves her lord, who loves himself.

Yuck..! Really bad!..

Will Aiden and his team find Glen and Henry inside the topsy turvy world of wonders that is no longer Takahara's corporate headquarters?

Will Amelia and Anna realize that they are being tricked by a trickster ?

Is Marcus really going to be used to subdue Aiden , like Rokuro , Kuro and Hakuro were to merge- only this will be quite different!

Stay tuned and read on, stay curious for the excited conclusion. Also, if I decide on a last, last version since Ami was introduced at 16? Then I may go M ..Unless the readers want to keep this pg! Let me know asap. I write like a speed demon on sugar 24/7. Had to cut back, summer heat killed me but I'm still kickin'.

I never enjoy limiting audiences but there is reason to for some parents. Just playing it safe! So send a response or I can do a poll in the nearest future. I'm all ears for your opinions. Just, the fan based Anime is overkill sometimes. I was once a shonen jump lass loong ago so no overpowering reminders - I had a reviewer who was ...tangent-prone and it was funny at the same time since I am a fan girl so can relate. No harm there. They might have later realized that anyone who daydreams can throw a fanfction up in days. It's kept me humble...Hope that was the rwason the reviews stopped. Lol.

In the meanwhile, keep curious and read on for the next chapter to come!*


	18. Chapter 18

Teen Titans; New Generations; Storyteller Arc Part Two- The Manifesto Pages; Chapter 17: The Beast Cometh- Brawl on All Fours- Wishing You A Safe Journey Back Home.

/

So I made the Brawling on All Fours a simple contradiction- Roku is of dragon origin or Djinn in The Forbidden Myth( On Wattpad!) Kaien has a beast ,god, and male form Solario . So all fous would translate to animal hyjinks overall.

Anna and her companion are stronger than they know. Ami is basically keeping the sixteen year old Amelia Grayson alive so that she can one day become Amy's reality into HER teens. Marcus only allowed Manifesto dominion, but Ami is the true storyteller who opened the door to this world- buildmg experience that Ann's had to go through.

Aiden is having the same issues that Richard did when he was still a Teen Titan. A withdrawl by the dragon's dark influence. That is why in previous arcs,the two were never to come into contact. Roku is a parasitic menace that feeds off of fear,doubt, aggression, and sorrow. He is what the deity claim to be 'a soul stealer' one that drains the life force of its victims over time.

Scary stuff aside, this is not the end so on to chapter seventeen already!~

/

~Fifteen, there's still time for you...~

Aiden felt his eyes flutter open. A girl , no...A woman was crouched or rather perched up with light orbs of energy surrounding her Ethereal body. Light flooded into her palms as she sent it back out to catch a stream of what looked to be swirling ...

~Wakefulness , yet you are asleep still.~ The woman faded from his vision , her dreamy hair was busy cascading about the lands of time space before she turned away and into shadow..

A voice chuckled within that darkness, Aiden felt his skin prickle with cold.

~Found..you...~

/

Aiden awoke with his forehead coated in sweat. His eyes saw another vision as he exhaled and could see his own breadth from within the room. This one had been much darker however..Glen was there...he had been earlier..It was in a cold, cold room with a mechanical vibe, more so than before, maybe not entirely the same. The cold storage...the labs perhaps?

"Where?.." A door creaked open slowly from the side of the room. Aiden swerved around to catch the figure that had slipped its way in, but it was just a -

~We have been here before, I knew you could do it.~

"What!?" He gasped as the voice only toyed further with the blonde's emotional state.

"Who are you!? You must be the same..The one who has Glen!" Aiden shouted back. As an echo formed, the room grew to house an even greater space..It was an illusion. He was being interroga-

"Ach!" The blonde fell to his knees as if something were around his throat, something had kicked him hard. It was silently up to stealing his soul in one clean swipe-

"N-no!" Aiden dragged his arms back behind him to catch the coat or cloak of...it was strange. The being was tangible-

"We meet again." The demon whispered close to the teen's ear. "Young man, now? Your mind...is very wary of me .."

"L-let..." Aiden tugged back but his arm was gripped by the faceless one he could not see. He had his arms gripped above his head, on his knees shaking as the demon dragged him deeper still into his own nightmare .

"Le-let...G-go!.." Aiden begrudgingly attempted to wrestle free of the grip, but his body felt smaller, and smaller..younge...r...weak...

~You would have left me, just like your father..so now, do not change...you are not ready to ...not while I can still cut your fate in half-

"I...I...huh..huh...huh..." Aiden breathed. It was a dream. An evil illusion to have him a brain dead ser-

~Hah!~ The teen was tugged up from his knees as he dangled mid-way, his body no longer touching the tiles of the lab floors..He looked down, and finally screamed.

/

Verra felt his body materialize slowly through the portal. He had been carried as his furry embodiment Vee, by Kaede in her weakest light. She was bruised, drained heavily of her powers..Finally,they had reconnected a link . This one was strained, but Kayu had it.

~How is Earth hold-cough cough!*..hold.. ?..~ Vee asked weakly as Kaede used a lower percentage of energy with the help of one of her extra relics to keep the dog out of harm's way.

Esme and Cliff panted before Kay gave a quick swipe that the team effort had been a noble effort indeed for their end. Vee smiled and Kaede was glad to know that -

~Kaede! Sister!~

~Huh?~ The younger kitsune heard but could not believe how distant her sibling's voice sounded. Was she not with the heroes of Earth back with Hecate?

 _~H-haru?~_ The fox blinked and tried to keep both links active simultaneously. (typo?).

~I am not with the heroes ! My double incarnate was left with our allies! I have been guarding Ami- Chan this whole hour!~

~Heh..You said that term was-

~With family, we do not _bother_ worrying so much about titles. Not unless we must.~ Kaede shushed the pup and nodded for Haru to continue.

~Yes, Ami is our contract holder , Amaterasu favours the child greatly. She must not become tainted by the dragon's magic!~

~Then you know where the real mini miko is!?~ Vee exclaimed with his energy already starting to return. ~

~That WAS the red dragon then.~ Haru sniffed. ~ You too were attacked ! He looks to be the most vulnerable of your group.~ Haru pointed to Verra as he tried not to roll onto his stomach too early.

~We were also tricked by a false ..uh..should'a sensed her...~ The dog growled. ~That wasn't Cecilia !It was an **imposter!** The real Cici is probably still chattin' it up in -

~ What are you trying to plan here!?~ Kaede asked. ~ Haru is in the book where Ami was supposed to have been a captive...Why ..~

~Ami's form is not that same one we know of right now.~ Haru sighed..~ She split her presence to exist for the sake of her family- her sister whom inherited the Phoenix's rites so early. ~ The elder kitsune stated.

~Then **where** do those low lives have our Ami!?~ Vee demanded. ~ She is just fuel right now, and waiting is going to get her drained to the last drop by the worst offender (typo?) possibly ever known!~

~We must create a way in-

~ No, Aide the heroes first. The girls are nearing an exit as we debate this.~ Haru said this with her mouth pursed into a frown. She was worried for much more than a single miko...it couldn't have been this messy, but Ami was still second to the balance that these gods intended to keep.

Haru decided with a nod to her comrades, remaining still where she dwelled. ~Then let us reunite to free her. ~

~Verra must go back to his world then..before..~ Kaede was afraid to finish. He was not dead but could end up absorbed by the evil dragon's new power.

~Let me..find my cousin ...I can go to Hecate and she can do the rest...~ Verra grinned with his jaw still pretty bruised from the fall.

~I'm send you off then, it is the least I myself can do. You are not to fear the outcome.~ Kaede smiled and let her magic send Verra to a place where he could heal quickly, and with the time they still had remaning.

~Haru, it is time to rejoin one another..~ Kaede said once the two had finally connected properly through the psychic link. Kay stayed connected to Verra's link as he spun round and round until...

 _~Ohf!~_ The dog looked up. There, he saw grey, cave walls. Verra sighed while stuck lying on his back like a pooch in the mood.* (happy pup talk) ~First stop, Hades..Oh joy..~He grumbled then attempted to get up like the lazy bones he no longer was.

 _~Again?~_

Verra saw the fingure as it floated closer to his laxed-out body. Verra cleared his throat nervously and called out.

~ Yo, sorry Time Meister, ma' man. Got a bit wrecked out there on the other side-

~No dignity of your kind, _puppy!~_ The great relic was standing there, hunched over a bit and with eyes like clock faces. Always aware. Verra lowered his ears from the scolding grandfather. Still a lovely person, really!

The old male had a long white beard , held a scythe in both his knarled hands, and looked like your average wise man of lore to most - or to those who'd ever gotten to see his true face. One connected to Universal time, Verra gulped.

Him..

~Lord of Time and Space, I request my full powers ..At the cost we've decided since our pact began-

~Your life then, will continue to dwindle. ~ The deity raised a brow with his scythe slightly raised as the elder peered into its reflection from the side.~You would really put their happiness second? You are a part of their team, why throw away your life so easily-

~To protect them, old man.~ Verra said with a sure face. ~We have an agreement that even Hecate allowed..Since Pluto on Rome's spirit divide is awol, I guess you just can't get much work, huh-

~Don't try me, puppy!~ The geezer sniffed. ~You ended your life and bought another- free of charge in that 'Takahara fellow's place. He was dead before the poison struck his last ending nerve...I pity your fate, like the many soldiers who have nothing left to lose. ~

He sneered back as Verra knew that they were forced to negotiate, no matter how bitter the hatred was between the two . It was a fated pact since Roku's influence had almost destroyed that which 'was' Veravakumu's oldest aspect. To keep him from becoming a real threat, Verra was forced to limit his powers - the Verra the teens knew was a demon of what one called Wrath, or his constant companion. A tainted shadow as a parting gift from the dragon himself. He did not want to call unto its energies by mistake. They were too unpredictable and could kill without any effort the first person on Vee's most wanted list. They had a brain,an embodiment and will of their very own..

Human born Takahara Shoji had been Veravakumu's guise that had kept the dog self on probation for many years since then..He was a wanted criminal stuck in an internal purgatory of his own making.

(Veravakumu was spoiled even after he was taken to train as a warrior by a group that could help him to contain his dark powers. His mother was a high priestess as well and related to Kaien before she'd been corrupted and killed off by Lilu, who'd succeeded in seizing the throne that belonged to Veravakumu's spirit father..

His father, he was like Roku..with Lori...Richard Ainsley had parents of different ranks fighting like mad for separte ideals, which only ended in one person's misery.

Their son's.

~The dragon by the way, is very close by...I cannot leave this void to come to the rescue - _you_ must go in the goddess's place. ~ The old man told this to Verra, who blinked back with his face now harboring a cocky grin.

~Which is why you pity those soldiers so much, hypocrite~ The daemon guardian chuckled before the elder rebuked.

~By Orpheus and Lord o' Hades! You are _indeed_ a witty fella! Don't test my patience again. Your life **IS** hanging thin, ya hear!?~ The old man dropped his sickle to hit the dog above his brow, quick as a god's thunderbolt. Never tick* off a space time deity. (Pun it there!) The pup flinched by the man's discontent. Old timers were hard to please, yeesh..

~There. As promised by our infinite agreement. You'll fight until I disappear forever..Since death is infinite, we cannot expect you to do that so soon , can we? The Medicine of everlasting life is for the rich! How can I compete with that?~

~Greed is a greater harbinger of dismay in their world. You got me on that one..!~ Verra shrugged and tried to see if his limbs were feeling any less strained. ~Funny though.~ His powers were returned as the clock spun round. The hour glass was steadily shifting ...

~Wasat?~ Chronos turned his eyes back onto the cat just as he was readying his leave. Verra opened his mouth, then tried to rectify those earlier comments.

~No..eh, the Death we fought when the dragon had been back the last time? I always knew that it had to be a fake..I mean, heh..You're not a crooked fiend-

~To what end? ~ The elder chuckled with his twinkling gaze hidden beneath his large white eyebrows.

Verra raised his ears in suspiscion. ~What'da _sayin?~_

 **Could** it have? The man was a tease! He'd never lost a wager of faith before..The old man seemed amused now, stupid sadistic deity...

~Well.~ The old timer said licking his lips.~ _Could_ it have been just me? Would you have thunk it otherwise?~

Verra paused, it was a tricky riddle. He suddenly smirked to the old male.

~ Ooh, _haha._ Very, cute.~ He snickered, understanding what the geezer had been trying to pull. Vee then hada thought hit him as he turned around a last time.

~Wh - wait a sec! What was **_that_** about then?~ The dog asked in annoyance, his 'educated guess' still missing a valid bit of proof to it.

~Many forms, time again.~ The old man of time winked. ~ But you'll never guess it? Will ya, _puppy?~_ A grey, cloud of smog was simply a cover as the old sorcerer of time vanished with his task done. The staff prooved once again the ultimate relic of space time . Well, well enough for today anyhow, Verra could leave that all behind him.

Vee shook his skull and scampered off to locate his missing team. ~ Cryptic ole' goat.~He laughed to himself. ~ Too bad he was demonized before his time...oh well.~

/

Amelia pounded the floor as her relic wa not yet revealed in this new reality . The real Ami wasn't there..They had seen a fake- A **fake!**

Anna smacked an ink drawn tree trunk as the dead inky spider commander lay beside it on all eight limbs- stone cold dead.

 _~Why_ ?~ Anna wrasped as she started to feel her heart beat unevenly. ~ Why!? ~ She hit the trunk with all of her might this time. A rip formed and they saw just why in moments . A hole leading deeper still inside the stump of the dead tree had all the answers. Anna wiped her nose and motioned for Amelia to join her. ~We have to find her..~ Anna grumbled as she slid deeper still into the unforeseen world within Manifesto's pages..

~I _won't_ forgive myself!~

Amelia held a hand to her chest and sighed before slipping away second, off and down the rabbit hole that was the other side.

The two feel, finding that they had been forced to collapse as soon as the end had left them groggy and winded.

~No..more..of this crap.~ Anna got up and pushed Amelia back as she rose . This room was like the inside of a brain, the central core of reality here in Ami's domain.

~Is..Is it!?~ Anna gasped and saw the synapses as they held a familiar face as the other fake Ami had been. Anna decided, she was going to risk her own safety to see if this was her sister or not.

She trekked forth, her eyes unwavering as her mind made clear. Amelia seemed to fall from her sight as a fog only broke the connection between them. ~A-

 **~Wait!~** The voice was Amelia's . She had been aware, then..

~I..should do what we came to do, before more people can get hurt...please let me try.~ Anna didn't know how to react. She just let the ebony haired princess tag along, what else could she do?

As they came upon the tortured miko in her guise as Lady Amelia, Anna started to have concerns. Amelia , the sixteen year old miss perfect, only touched Ann's shoulder to responsd in a calming voice.

~I can fix everything, so _please_ let me try.~ She walked on ahead as the other Ami was fast asleep, or unconscious. Ann didn't want to guess any more.

The older girl of Ami's future being reached out once she was close, and grasped the tween's hands into her own.

~We can be free, you just have to open your eyes...I'm not going to disappear..The mirror, the key..~

Amelia smiled as Ami groaned and shook her head softly. Her hands were pale and cool to the touch. ~I promised her, we are going to fix everything together- now...let go of your fears! ~ The younger Ami sharply exhaled, her eyes popped open as the other Amelia, closed her eyes- between their arms was an object . It appeared as rainbow strands from out of nowhere flitted and flickered to allow the summoning...

 _~Ama..terasu...But...~_

~Ami...We are just as strong! Fight it! ~ Anna cried out and watched with her heart caught in a mass paradox. A wave that had caused the inky trees to bloom full of pinks and red, gold and even purple and green. The world was given hope, painted with that life that Manifesto and Marcus had drawn from it. Ami's garb transformed to that of a priestess mini of power. The flat, almost dimensionally gripping relic was now shoved lightly into her small hands.

~I AM _OKAAY!~_ Ami grinned as the sun collected round her body, breaking the inky binds from holding her back. She was a flying sprite in golds and reds. Her body was light as air as she set the mirror proudly above her head. In that same instance two ghostly spirits made entirely of wind and with the bodies of foxes , made their way to spiral round and round Ami as she held up the mirror and shouted at the top of her lungs.

 _ **~REEEUUUNIITE!~**_

The shift was impressive as the rift in time shattered all illusions. The books inhabitants cheered on the savior as the world soon became no more than a spec in the fsce of what looked like a portal to the other side of reality.

~Ah!~ Ami was helped down from her spot by Amelia, the sixteen year old Ami that would never remain as long as she kept dreaming.

~You are _vanishing!?~_ Ann rushed over to Amelia as she vanished in to dusk as many spirit seemed to favor such dramatic endings.

Amelia smiled back while Ami whimpered before calling out to her 'self' of the future.

~I won't forget you! I am ok and I don't _want_ to change! ~

Amelia was content with that and replied as loud as she could.

~I can't wait to see you too! Take care of our family! **Byyye!~**

The two shared goodbyes as the portal swept up both Ami, Ann and alsothe mirror still in Amy's grasp. The two foxes transformed back into Haru and Kaede as they helped Ami and her companion to float safetly back through the void towards home.

~I _won't_ forget you..~ Ami whispered as her mind filled with wonder of what tomorrow might bring. Just maybe she'd be ok. And she was smokin' to boot! Jackie was gonna have a field day with this!

Ami chuckled as she clung to her precious relic..Amaterasu had made it for her pupil. She stillwanted the girl to lad one day her ceramony of the rising sun...

~It's a promise she smiled as Anna could only guess what her sister was beaming about. ~Are you glad we stuck around?~ Ann grinned to Kede who rolled her eyes with a snort. ~ You saved us half the work. Ami is safe once more thanks to your efforts. ~

~Ami AND Miss Hana are, sister! They were together, never apart. We should learn from this example greatly. You could learn much from these siblin-

~No, Ami and I are still-

Ami floated up and puffed out her cheeks with her arms crossed. ~ Am I chopped liver over here? Why is Anna getting all of the attention! Look up!~ She was right, they would be setting ourse back towards Earth soon. Ami hoped Aiden had kept the leader's seat warm..otherwise I would remain ice cold as her worried heart was frigid..Shaken, she felt her body wince from the feeling..a feeling that made her weary enough to ask.

~My brother, something's happened to him-

~No..you a-

~Kaede?~ Anna interrupted. ~ What's my sister saying? ~ She tried to stay calm but Ami's complexion had again turned a bit pale. ~ Aiden isn't well..~ She said this as if her body were not her own. The light in her eyes changed as the young miko tween soon blinked to reveal the eyes of one wiser. Haru saw this change and immediately bowed .

 _~Ama-terasu-Hime Sama!~_ She gasped and hid her eyes as the great sun maiden seemed to have overshadowed Ami by association.

~ Let us transcend !~ Their bodies became beams of light, striking against the barrier which held them. The mirror was again raised to break the walls of the massive book's existance. The shattered reality revealed a vision, a time of peace was coming.

 **~Hooome!~** Ami was let go of as soon as the team of four had fallen into a shallow fountain. It was inside what looked like ...oh...

"Ugh...showers? I wish!" The company had showers and restroom areas for their employees who worked and lived at Takahara corp's lab section. So, the water was still running, but the employees must have gone since last...week?

/

~Another poor example of basic-

"And I couldn't agree more."

The one staring at the group from the doorway was Roko.

She had the nose of a hell hound for sure.

"I was told to get creative..But this..I don't know how to take you laying down? " The dopple snorted and mocked the red head outside...she was in the water..well!

"I was told to get messy- but I guess this'll be a bit off the wall-

~Protect the chosen duo!~

Kaede ripped out her blades and had Roko pinned against a wall, while the kitsune shot in to bulldoze the intruder flat onto her back.

~Have you no honor left?~ Kaede snarled and dropped her arm to slice off a strand of Roko's ebony locks- she was furious and evaded the next. Slipping by with serpentine skill, the dopple took her mask as -

 _ **~Halt!~**_

The dopple froze, then lost her balance by a glaring light. Ami was getting the royal treatment again as Amaterasu's vessel . Roko growled with eyes red and viscious. (typo)

 ** _"Raaah!"_** She instead tossed a few pellets to the ground and used this to help in her retreat. She'd be back. Most demons like her had lost their pride long ago.

 _"Ugh.."_ Ami was let from her convergence while Anna helped her sister from fainting in the staff shower stall.

"I guess, we should go look for the others .." Ann frowned and turned to search Haru and Kaede's faces for an answer.

~We cannot stay here.~ Kaede nodded and took first to the exit to scan for any more attackers. Once the coast was clear, the team set off to search for their lost allies. Who in fact must have been overcome by the same dillemma.

/

~Richard stood before Lady Aluehainyu , Lady Crone Hecate, and Miss Cecilia Lunaria Daia - or her other rank as a high priestess to the Crescendo 'cult' as the foxes dubbed it. The three had also been joined by Vespa , who's origins were in fact shocking.

~You didn't come from this time, like Verra was. ~ Too back Kayu could not back up Raven's hypothesis. Hecate looked to Vespa as the reaper woman decided to pull out her scythe for another reason, one that had the Titans dually(typo) surprised.

Her scythe forced a door way to open as the tear resembled a chunk of flimsy cloth one could simply slip right through in a heartbeat.

She turned her head with a sly grin to her allies. ~ Then let me make it up to everyone. With their high ones' permission?~ Vespa asked for clearance from her betters. Hecate turned to Alue who bowed with Kori, Raven, Richard and -

~I missed you and now you're leaving!?~ Verra stood or sat with his gaping kit jaw right where he'd thought the team would have been. ~Lady Crone, Cronos sends his regards.~

~Will your time still flourish?~ Hecate asked the mutt as he nodded back honestly. ~ I'll gladly tell my charges the tale on the way. Death hath not taken thy name, not yet. ~

~Oh , of course..~ Vespa rolled her eyes and slung the scythe to lean against her shoulder by its rod , not the blade as it dangled off behind her.

~Verra, we will need you as well..Hecate and I have a spell to concoct with...A war god from the Universal sect-

~Then I will tell them everything I know.~ Verra agreed before going into the portal with a bound over to the space time entrance. Vespa nodded with a half hearted grin. ~ Then the executioner is outta here! In you go, heroes!~

The team was ready as they took to the next time, the present without protest. ~Good luck, Guardian!~ Cici added as Verra shot her a confident glance. ~ You know I have nine lives till eternity, kid!~

They were gone as the dark doorway shut with a flap of the curtain. The fabric had woven once more to encompass their realities.

Still, what was to come of their worlds? Or the council of spirit ?..

Only the goddess Hecate and her pupils remained, while Vespa chewed on her lip and contemplated the trials on Earth. ~They have it way too easy.~ Vespa said as her companion Cecilia, who just shook her head and answered calmly a reply. ~I have my faith in them as never ending as Time. ~Luckliy, she had her reasons to seem skeptic beneath her willful demeanor. She'd be willing to snoop about later while council had its back turned. Something still had the Lady Crescendo on her toes...

The guardian Vespa, expected nothing less from her fated rival. Always the secretive, never the need to share by her cult's decree. The underworld and Above now had to depend greatly on the Chosen's decision...Or all would begin again- Just as with the son Ainsley and his destructive path under his other-worldly king of damnation.

Lisa's group had hit a snag in their travels. A secret plot line was just about to unfold as the heroes left the underground and soon found themselves within a cold storage facility. They had found the floor that had escaped the group earlier.

Aiden was fading , she knew it. Lisa called to Alicia Daia for any answers on howto wake him...yet the spirit teen only remained silenced by an unknown entity expecting the Daia girl dead and burried. Lisa had seen a shadow, she had ignored its presence until now.

The same one that had stolen Aiden from the pop star , thrice. The hairs on the back of Lisa's neck were close to rising up..Hackles and all.

"I think...We should try something else-

~You children are all lost and aall awown! Whahahaa! It brings tears to imp me's heart, it does!~

Charl was glared at as soon as the imp had struck a cord. Damian must have been tormented enough, his hands wanted to twist the gruesome evil's head clean off!...The old Damian would have seen it as just. Yet Robin...Ugh, as the title went, was no killer. Just a side-kick to the big bad bat back in Gotham City.

Without waking Aiden, Charl could easily pull a few strings as his true master took hold of the boy in another form.

He had to stall for as long as his leige(typo) needed the imp to do just that. He was a distraction, nothing more than a messenger.

~Hey, heey! I like to kid with you! Who else will have good laughs with an unholy Imp..blug... like mee!?~ Charlthrew on the water works. Wobbling lip, shaking hands...aand, cue biggest scammer of the year!

He also changed his form to that of the brunette himself, the crying pretty boy . The foolish noble.

~Dear gods I am unwell!~ He was a perfect actor to fool this crowd, none of the team seemed to think him immodest as the daemon scrunched up his eyes and wept right into his pale hands. ~Oh..this misery in me...it grows! You must locate a way, any way..I fear for this unjust feeling, only thus...We are sitting where the snakes of Hades themselves may swallow you up! Oh, oh!~

~Nice acting, you forgot one thing.~ Aiden's eyes shot open as he said it. ~The only fool here, is you, Mr' lord no more'.~

Raising his palm, Aiden sent the power of his fire hurtling towards the cage. It did not shatter, yet Charl was shaken greatly by the ordeal. He panted and revert back to his imp form with a snarl. ~ Boy no good! He is enemy...but watch your baaacks!~ The imp soon became invisible- a trait not known to imps. Zan used her craft to lock up the cage and turned it into an electric zapper once more. He was gone, vanished into thin air, they had lost the creep for good..

Aiden dropped his arm and clutched his skull with his other hand. With a wince, seething by the regretful attack..He had beaten the imp the right way, at the correct time..The crowd couldn't have asked for a better opening preview..

"What the heck?" Dami exclaimed and rammed Aiden down with a sharp blow to his face. Zan shoutedout and held her teammates back with her levitation magic. "Cut it out!" Damian snorted to himself. He lifted himself up once he was allowed to move freely about.

Aiden got up slowly second and seemed unperturbed by the hit. He looked different somehow to Lisa, but she said no more and just watched her ex-boyfriend behaving strangely while he was in his stupor. She looked at him as if he were not there, yet something else had been bugging her.

"Ugh...nice one...you still got-

"What is wrong with you!?" Damian shouted. His nerves were shot from wandering in too deep. Tsukiyume and Lisa stayed back, as the priestess of ice and sleet also had to put her thoughts to rest onto an ally's shoulders.

~I wish to speak with Alice. Not the Counter- Daia. The Ethereal.~ She demanded from Lisa's right side. Lisa Viscado sighed and let her body become light, lighter than air yet somewhere...-

~Ah!-

"What happened?" Zan saw the back-lash from Lisa failing to summon the spirit within her of the Ethereal Alice. Lisa dizzily tried to come to her senses, as if she'd been knocked down while still standing. Her knees almost buckled by the feeling of an unknown force. She gasped while catching her breath. "I...couldn't find her..I was blocked out somehow..."

~Then we have something to search for after all.~ Tsuikyume said, which had the heroes turn in her direction, even the beaten down Aiden.

"I don't know..." Lisa licked her lips and tried to remember . "I was unable, something stopped me..but I don't know." Tears came from her eyes as Lisa felt entirely different herself than when she'd stepped through the portalway. Aiden walked over as Zan stood gaping..He came up to Lisa and without thinking, he embraced his old friend in her time of need.

She felt him and they, were still. Her eyes almost shut too tightly to see anything. But then..

~WAKE UP, LISA! IT IS A TRAP! HE!-

"Ahh!" Lisa tugged at Aiden to let her go. He did, looking both puzzled and baffled by her sudden change of face. Her eyes were still wet,yet they were hotter than before, her tears were not there by choice.

"Are you ok ?" Zan asked as Damian continued to observe this weird and out of place verion of Aide..He was right? He looked as if he..were waiting...for ...-

~I am for certain then.~ Tsukiyume swept her mystic body up into the air to land right before the blonde in his dazed state.

~You...~ Her eyes narrowed by what she believed to have been correct. "What's wrong with him?" Dami demanded to know as Zan restored the lost energy she had from the power she had used to keep Charl out of the way. "Is he..alive in there?"

"Aiden?" Lisa gasped and hoped his words would return, he seemed to know nothing. As if a part of his memories had been...

~Smother my rites will ye, demon!-

Out popped from a now obvious hole in the wall, Glen and his best bud Henry Vanderbilt.

~We know the tricks a' that one o'er there! Ya gotta keep um' grounded! Hurry!~ Glen shouted as the shadows from before returned to attack from below.

Well before the dragon's escape from an alternate reality-

Kaien had fought, however...

The Roku of this dimension had been strong. It had to be the original trying to pull through and out of Manifesto's shorn pages.

~I can beat you silly, cat.~ Roku chuckled as he administered more of the toxic vines' venomous poison to integrate from within the sect holder Apollon's body. ~Every bone in your current form will fall into a world outside of this one as it crumbles. You can live in your fortified hell forever as I was expected to do the same!-

~Ya did go...loco...dunce! AGGHHAAA!~ Kaien cringed by the tipping scale that was his only life. He had not bluffed..The form here was not his real body anyway. Apollon was still acting as a guide. This form would vanish. Alan would take the place of ..Solario on Earth...Alan Stregario(made up?) That would be his newest man in service to the heroes ...

~Humm, you look to be plotting..~ Roku increased the vines strength as their thorns pierced every limb that this Dog had left. ~Are you planning to flee my little trap?~

Kaien huffed with his breath coming out in shorter, ragged puffs . Heh?...I..uah...Am...a...l..re..dy...d...d..dead!~

The cat left his form to go limp, even if Roku had wanted the pup alive for leverage. If he had that , A would not be a safe deity for long. Lady Light was already suffering from her mum Hecate's intervention. The cat's gurgle of life remaining was a reminder as Roku looked on, his eyes horrified by the picture. The cat, had died to save his gods...that rat!

The dog magically returned to stardust as his body became light , it repelled Roku's army as the evil was only willing to follow that bleedimg beam of energy upwards. He did yet in dragon form. He spiralled, carrying himself with the mass as the world of Manifesto's pact with Marcus, now meaniningless, started to collapse. The dragon roared out to finish the deed. His magic infected the vines which transmutated into ink drawn stains that leapt from page to page.

~Find the sun- priestess, make that she never returns!~

With his final order set, Roku set off to finish Kaien for good. Even if that meant devouring his spirit before it reincarnated from within another of the current generation.

~After that, Roku had toyed with Ronald after having liberated the world of the red, wily fox. The end. ~

Aiden shuddered within his own mind as the face,the face of a madman stared back into his terrified amber eyes. It let go of the sides of Aiden's face as the teen wept . ~Y-you di..did?...Y-you k-killed h-i-him!?~ Aiden fought but the voice only weakened his , somber, foreboding and something else. Roku had Aiden in the palm of his hand yet. ~We were apart because of that dog's meddling you see!~ The dragon tugged the desperate teen close. He was still absorbing that light, it had to go away soon. Only the darkness was left once Aiden embraced his lasting rites.

~How...how could!-

The dragon hummed and smoothed the boy's hair back with a small smile. ~He was keepimg you from your fate ,it was designed just for you.~ The dragon answered as Aiden groaned quietly within his fever dream. The dragon...was..too strong...his magic..no..his body..he...was...

~You will not resurface for me, just yet.~ The dragon told him as Aiden's tears returned without his desire to shed them. Magic, this was not a safe place..Like a predator coaxing a young...oh god!-

~No!~ Aiden tried to fight it. He pulled away but the tug had the leech clinging to him, huggimg him and taking the last of his fire. Aiden was shaking as it made the teen sweat. His body couldn't h-

~Ungh!~ Aiden felt a slight pinch and looked up with tears staining his cheeks. Roku looked down from above with a lazy smile,his eyes were as a predator's. A lying, cheating , crafty...a trap...no...it..it...

~Aaghhh!~ Aiden moaned as the pain had him clenching his stomach. He saw a sheen of a blood red light..it...was prodding out...from...his abdomen...How-

~We cannot have you as before.~ Roku touched the teen's jaw and tilted it slightly to have Aiden look up at him. ~ You are after all, going to become my forever Powersource, Little Chosen..~ The teen did not look as Roku's other hand extended. His index finger continued to apply pressure to the teen's stomach, the red light vanished leaving the teen to feel...a bit more at ease..but something was wrong..

Aiden's eyes grew wide as he tried to swim outside of the sphere keeping him. Roku gripped the boy's arm and took him closer again. Like a serpent, he held the teen still . He was...a monster without caring for the boy's mission..he wanted to do away with the light in Aiden's bones...his power was slowly being corrupted!

~No, no!~ Roku chuckled, making Aiden look up to see why...had..he read his mind? Were they bonded by the cursed object the demon had obviously sealed, inside his chest!?

~To some degree, my craft is rather complex...Ah, then the tome didn't know? ~ Roku laughed at this as he dragged Aiden to fall within the cloak. His body was sinking in, as if ready to be absorbed by the monster...Aiden locked up his sights tightly and waited...No, nothing came. Again he heard the demon cackle..

~You are not going to lose this body. I assure you..~ Roku seemed as if this decision was in fact expected by someone other than he...

~I simply must have that light to containing with another- once I do so, your shell of a vessel will be perfect to keep the darkness in you..inside you...It will finally have a home...you'll be almost, perfect...~ Roku stroked the teen's blonde scalp as if he were tenderising a prime cut of meat for his next entree. Shivering from the unearthly chill, Aiden could not speak. He was too afraid to fall in deeper as the powers of his light self...were being shut out like the light in his heart...

~Hakuro was kept still. ~ The dragon added..~Your friendly deity, Horus? His power is not strong enough to return here yet..I intend to watch as your friends lose all respect for you as my newest vassal to be...You'll inherit a power that will take us up to the heavens!~ The godless one proclaimed as his ungloved hands gripped Aiden's hair with a forceful tug. Aiden felt the tears form again as his body felt weaker and weaker..the same feeling as that orb he had...

~Wait!-

~Aaagh!~ Aiden's scalp was tugged again as Roku's neck craned over to stare into the boy's hazel eyes. That also could use a change from the god's color palette of choice. ~You do not need to remember... ~ Roku hissed as his hypnotic eyes had Aiden half lidded and listening finally. ~Now, when your friends call over, what will you do? Hmm?~ Roku soothed the teen with his jair now being petted, not pulled against the blonde's wishes. The teen felt relaxed, as if the embrace of a monsterous snake wasn't the end...but the beginning.

~I...am not..going to...do...anything..~

~Perrfect gasped a thankful sigh, grinning in delight. The dragon purred in this delight, just for his newest toy..

~There, you see?~ The king again had Aiden in a feeling a false bliss as he drained every inch of resistance from the teen's spirit.

~Perfect...and all mine to control. Like old times...You'll get used to this life eventually, once I reverse our time. We have soo much catching up to do...~

Aiden smiled back yet had no idea what was going on. The feeling by the crown of his head made the world drip down as if encased in a grey fog. He wanted to stay..his friends...who were they again?...

~Memories are precious...~ The king smirked and continued to pamper his prisoner. ~ You'll soon make new ones in MY kingdom, won't you Aiden?~ The boy did not nod, he was too delerious to tell if this had been a dream..or truly a pact made with a devil. His, hands were the energy snatching components...They were...so warm...Like those ofsomeone he had forgotten...who...but...i-

~My..l..-

~Shhh.~ Roku slipped a hand over Aiden's lips. ~ Not another word...We have work to do..You'll be the guest of honor...Now, won't that be FUN?..~ Aiden sighed softly with a nod. This was possibly what had become of Ami...he had let her go through the same madness...it..was a distant memory now...He just wanted to go back inside his peaceful dreams...

Oohkay...Spooky? Roku is a parasitic demon hybridif you catch my drift. He is not a true demon, but embodies the ritesof the eternal djinn as well. An illusionist, a monsterous serpent unlike Azag in the wattpad story. Roku has a grudge against A since she denied him entry into the Ethereal realm - which leads to the UNIVERSAL REALM. The sect where Kaien claims to be from ? As a spy for Lady Hecate and the other deity?

Yeah, he wants to rule world but Aiden now has a shard of what was the 'powersource crystal ' lodged inside him. Rokuro , the son had the same problem His father tried to control the prince with the red crystal's power..It was to counter Lori's Blue Spinel teardrop gemstone handed down to her by her great grandfather- who was the first to have predicted Roku's arrival while he'd been on a trip through the desrt sands. Very occult- note worthy ...

Lorelai Ainsley's ancestor was a wise man who could contactthespirit realms out side oftheirown by his gift. He might have also been the one who had left the stone to his family in the event that his prediction come to pass, withhe having passed before realizing its truth and horrors..

So now, Aiden has to pay the price for a dead king's error in judgement. Trial and error much?

Ami is back on track with herself,only until she ends up a vessel temporarily for Amaterasu..What is Roko planning? And didn't Lady Amelia teleport over to San Remo Italy?

Where is Ron, what became of Kaien? And who is Alan Stregario? Will he reincarnate to know, or will Roku destroy the last shred of our ally's attempts. Is Aiden ever going to realize that he is being tempted over to the dark side against his will? What is going to happen to our heroes?Find out in chapter eighteen for the right answer! Read on and staay curious!


	19. Chapter 19

Teen Titans; New Generations; Storyteller Arc Part Two; The Manifesto Pages; Chapter 18: Dark Corners of Your Mind. Falling Back Into The Void- Amazin' Faces Galore!

Jumping right in soo let's -a go!

/

Roku had seemingly been everywhere at once. Charl knew it, the Titans had been avoiding its present like the plague.. Anna had somehow sensed many dangerous creatures around she and her comrades before. They knew that something was on its way through a closed doorway. Ami shivered at the thought as the four figures, Haru, Kaede, Amelia, and Anna Grayson all attempted to scale door to door in search of their missing companions. Instead they had been greeted by the ever- lying in wait demoness aspect, Roko. Roko had been a catalyst this time, or so she claimed to have been the one tohave awaken such a beast from his lying grave..

Anna wanted to think of this as a big joke like always. Whenever the dragon reared his ugly mug out from the shadows, she had kept her fire lit.. Yet, everyone believed that he was back . No one could forget the horrible reunion that had occured only three years ago. To Ami, it was a dream time she had wished to forget forever. The dragon scared her. He had scarred everyone in that fight. Now, he was again trying to manipulate the Chosen. Her father had been spared, only to be replaced with Aiden's und-

"Ami?" Anna nudged her sister out of a daze the girl had been under. Amaterasu's magic was a weapon only for Ami to recognise by the powers she had recently been entrusted with. Amelia looked up at her elder sister and bit her lip.."I feel like something is wrong, something is coming back...You feel it too, right Haru? Kaede?" The ebony youth asked her dear kitsune allies.

Haru bowed her head with a silent nod as they traversed the hall, which now led down a winding path towards the main offices of the building's second floor. ~We are in danger here, this is clear to you, I am certain..~ Haru answered. As cryptic as her thoughts combined.

~Sister, we have to be careful of that evil presence.~ Kaede reminded her younger twin. ~Ami-chan, you must go ahead with your sibling. ~ The foxes soon lit up their palms as their ears picked up a signal faintly. In warning to one another, the foxes' tails were exposed to have six to each of their backsides. Their ranks had increased..Only a few more until they were to be decided as trully fledged. Charl emerged from around the bend in his finest baby blue ensemble. ~Why, hello there!~ The imp in his spirited form responded with a grin. ~ I wouldhave thought you to have gotten lost in my king's pretty maze.~ The ex-knight chuckled as Kaede startled her charged with a hiss. ~Go!~ She whispered to the elder red head. ~Take Ami and flee as far as you can. Haru and I can handle this jester . Do not turn back. We will be ok.~ Ami nodded and tugged her sister's arm to get a move on, just as the foxes' enemy was readying is attack.

~Are you going to fight or flee!?~ Charl sent a ball of energy cascading towards the two spirit protectors. Ami was shielded thankfully by Anna's quick trip - Her magic was back, and could deflect as many hits as she had to ...

~C'mon.~ Ami pulled Anna away as the two rushed down a separate hall to escape like Kaede had wanted of her charges. Charl growled by how the girl had dismantled his attack too easily. He had to warn that pitiful aspect..Lao Ming still had been active as well on the soil of one, Italian music event...(it was in the past so this is likely for this story, a time bubble. Which explains perfectly why no citizens were harmed in the making of this fan- fic. )

/

/

Lao Ming HAD found her way back to Earth. She had, and the damned Eternal had not chased her at all! What luck! As the Tenkit assassin made her first step back through the unnamed portal, she had come face to face with a familiar brat..

~You!?~ Lao Ming pointed before the dark haired mistress could rip her courage away with one stare. "I am a Lady, remember Mada-

I don't know, you opened the doorway up? Is this-

The girl in her cobweb ensemble smirked with a finger to her pale lips. "I was sent by our new overlord. He has to see this through to the end." Lady, Amelia was bold but too bright by both her aspects of good and evil. This tiny devil had her eye onone thing- to finish in being a dark king's late messenger. Ir she had also ben promised her heart's desire, she'd be as competitive if not more than the solo escape artist, Roko. Lao Ming couldnot roll her eyes, she had to look the part of a clown until her ticket out had come again. Thistime, nothing would be predestined..If Charl wasstillsane, she and he would go off, leave the sphere for a new hope...No wars, or pillaging, no active plans against the council-

"Why do you hesitate?" The young, darkly clad miss eyed the cat girl suspiciously. She was sure that the cat had beedn chosen to hold back the fires of the courts. She was not supposed t leave the battlefield without regrets. It was only certain.

~I...Have a dream to start over , so be it!~ Lao Ming started to change. A firey welling within her breast left the cat yowling , clawing herself up the ladder as memories came flooding forth. She wanted out!?

"Have it your way." Amelia yawned and deflected the cat's long claws with her forcefield magic. A trick that either counterpart, good or evil had the ability to cast. Ami had to have the courage to face her darkest self. An incarnate of power, of wants that no mortal could withstand in knowing. Roko could not compare. She was composed, a perfect little lady of injustice.

Lao Ming was tossed back as Amelia's eyes lit well of her darkness. She suppressed nothing and knew the cat's weakness. "You are going to have your wish, disappear now." Darkly, the tone of the lady Ami incarnate had Ming stunned in mid space. The cat forced her way out of the bubble but found it locked up tight. ~You are a mad woman! Let me gooo freee ! Graaaaww!~ The cat scraped at the barrier, clipping her pretty nails on the magical jail cell.

Amelia only looked on with her expectations dashed. "Why are you fighting? We should be on the same side." She spoke this as tears began to well up in Lao Ming's brown and hazel eyes . Amelia saw this emotion in her captive,'s gaze and with a flick of her wrist-

~You should have been a good kitty. ~ The cat, had disappeared. Her dream still unrealized, not a word after that..

/

Amelia quietly sighed and let down her shook her head and frowned. "You were still a figment of his imagination." She spoke to herself as if the cat were still listening. "You were given a chance to be a real character inside your own story...Too bad. " Amelia snorted and turnedaway from the invisible demise of her fallen comrade. Or was she a loost cause, that crazy cat? "Dreams don't come true by your hand." The girl whispered with a sniff. "I am only doing my job until he comes to surface here."

Amelia saw the crowd inside their respected time their fces in shock and stuck that way...Maybe Ming had been on to something with that zombie plan? Amelia walked up to the stage's standing microphone and stared at it as if puzzled. She thought about it, that plan was ok..But something had been amiss..

~Ami?~ Kay looked over in disbelief as he and Cliff stepped over towards the startled todd. "Am!-

"No." Cliff put his arm out to stop the light haired cousin , his reckless brother was too soft to not have seen it. "She's not the same Nina, bro." Cliff said as Kay's eyes grew wide. "As...in.." The double with Ami's face smiled as she slipped back over towards her new favorite instrument..

"Only , your Ami can't sing a tune like I can." The girl brought her lungs to inhale every gasp as the sound so shrill,so morbid and ghastly left the crowds again to rise from their slumbering bodies. They were no longer bound by the chain links of time's clock. Amelia belted out her voice as Esme screamed for an escape from the wraith's dark power over song.

 _~Iiiiii!_ I live in the _night!_ My fire course and grown, it bubbles insiide of me tonight..And as I cry **out!** My blood stays toxic as my stare- I can't go anywhere..Until you, let me in your **_heart...~_**

 _"Hypnotic_ magic!?" Kay gawked as his ears became hollow by the cold droning of the dopple's tune. He was shocked even before, when Cliff came up to him in his human form to place a set of noise cancelling objects in both the fox's ears. The dog jumped as his cousin shugshed there pup to remain aware of their enemy's all seeing sights.

"Just as the sorceress Daia in Rome, she's a -

 **"Real** enchantress.." Cliff ended the blue eyed siren's sentence with a grunt. "Which means that she's on a mission, so who's she workin for? Eh?" The earth weilding dog transformed into his hybrid fox form of a critter with green vines for tails and leaves for ears. His eyes were as big as a dragonfly's glance. They were dark with hints of amberand green facets. ~I don't think you know how to put on a performance, chica!~ Such language was to egg the false 'Ami ' into a face off. He controlled Earth, this was a little girl- the dual demon in poor Ami brought to life by some cult magic.. Cliff had to try to push her back, or else all of Sanremo would be doomed to exist in a neverending dance of the dead!

/

Ava opened her eyes..

Just for a second, she had seen them. The true northern lights where Aneiu the white wolf watched over her home..Ava was not a wolf. Chris could not change back...His powers were too chaotic...She had prayed for..

 _~Princess!~_ Ava looked up and heard a voice while dazed and floating in an alternate space. ~We made it..but..~ Ava groaned and opened her eyes even wider to see-

Chris was there ! He was holding her hand as the two stared at one another for a couple of short moments. She then realized it... He had transformed back! ~Chris!~ Ava brought her shining, tearful eyes to at last meet his constant gaze. ~You're back!~ She almost laughed, though he had to stop her as the other teen looked over to another unmoving, floating the too quiet space. Ava gasped by whather ex boyfriend had discovered..Her eyes lit up doubly over the discovery.

~ We found him!?~ Ava exclaimed as her voice had become temporarily weakened by the shocking turnabout through time and space.~We found the _real_ Marcus!~

/

~Not,ok...Little snow **cat.~** Roku let his fingertips dance over an image of Ava andher saw this and reacted,yet Roku had drained most of his physical strength. He was only a battery to the monster now if he could not get away...Ava..He knew Ava Marie and did not want Roku to introduce himself after having put her through heck .

~r...ru...ruuunn!~ Aiden sent a message as the speak was his only hope. Roku plastered his ungloved palm against the boy's lips but was too late to stop the child from warning his allies. ~Can't you just accept it!~ Roku hissed at the blonde as he continued to resist. ~Just like them,like my **ingrate** of a son! That halo baring _'Alice...'_ Your bloody _**sister**_ !They all want freedom from **meee!~**

He went berzerk, yet only one had been spared from Roku's rants. Richard,the first Robin had not been called out as a failure. Which meant...

~Dad..was ...l-

~His energy coud light worlds! He stole that chance back like the damned...yet noble, _Prometheus!_ He **stole** my gift! It ws perfect...Ah, but for you!~ The dragon's teeth protruded out as he hissed out his foul words to the blonde. ~For you, I could have started from the beginning..I could have won you over personally...I was closer to my goal than with your idiot father..That...that fire...It is _STILL_ fighting _**mee!~**_ He howled out and dragged Aiden along for the ride of his life back into the darkness. Aiden felt it. He saw the misery of so many lost souls..they called to him ... his heart, yet he had to fight it.

After conking out earlier,the teen had awoken to the king's dismay as a rebel all over trick by the fire bird, the king had said. He demanded Aiden to summon it . Aiden, not being of magic orpower by choice, knew nothing of such an ability. That was when Roku had flipped. He had grown teeth with a snarl in his tone. As if wanting too much that would never come to him.

~Eclipsed **_dimensions!~_** Roku cried out aa his laughter turned to follow the mad ex- god's screamed and Aiden did as well...Soon, he would erradicate them..His family...

 _~Stop!~_ The boy was obstinent. Roku's hidden tail appeared as Aiden attempted to cry out. It coiled ruthlessly around the blonde's throat, leaving him breathless and in a brutal choke hold. The dragon took to enjoying this monent as he pondered, what to do next...

~Ava is not the main _character.~Roku_ stated this with his eyes never straying from the struggling blonde.~Mommy and Daddy dearest are useless...Only you can change with your fate. ..I can spare them. I know you'll listen, Aiden?~ There was a tiny glint in that dragon's gleaming red and black identical orbs. Aiden froze.

~My _name...~_ The teen spoke with a grunt through the 'mind-spoken' tongue. ~Give..it...-

~A name, So..You want another then?~ The dragon asked almost curious as to what this all entailed. ~A name for a name...What will it be?~Aiden didn't answer as a fire welled up inside his throat, then his palms lit up golden. The dragon shouted with a growl as his tail turned to smolders. ~Aargh! You will bow to me! I have your name! You'll be forever reminded of those whom -

 _~You...pant..*..~_ Aiden fell onto his knee and winced. _~You...are_ n..not.. _ever...happy?...N..Never?...~_

The dragon looked at the boy, stricken dumb by the outlandish question. So incoherent that it made the snarling criminal feel as if he were being mocked by a demi humanoid!

 ** _~How..DARE_** **_YOU_ _ASK!~_** Roku sent his magic binds after poor Aiden who had tried to create a door-

 _~Acch!~_ The monster held his skull with eyes of a raging blood red. ~You...are going to wake UP, FOR _MEE!~_

The king had become impatient. He was unwinding. Yet the words from before, it souded to Aiden like a cry for attention from a spoiled yet neglected child...The real Roku, was still somewhere else. He wanted his pain to go away so badly, that the dragon in him had taken the liberty of ensnaring a guardian of the Golden Dragon's Chosen. He had become desperate and Aiden had wished to learn more. Maybe, maybe Robin had tried and had failed...

~I...want _you...cough!...To_ tell _me...Let_ it out! I'll _listen!~_

The demon just looked as if he'd been smacked in the face by a former mistress. In his mind whirring at tremendous speed, had anyone even just...

 ** _~I..mean_** _it!~_ Aiden pleaded in order to show that he ..Well, the dragon meant to do worse than harm him. Maybe gutting him and selling his soul in the process was part of the demon king's job discription. Yet!

~Hah...Why try little hero?~ The king chuckled, more so he had a dryness in his voice. He had sent the message loud and clear. Aiden cleared his throat . ~You _need_ this, so that maybe there IS a better way to try over...~

He did not use the words start over..If Aiden's schooling had been enough to deflect a bully's beligerant actions, then this was no different. He had to go like Toby. Get inside the dragon's head and reveal the trauma. No matter how horrific, his mind was made up.

~I want to test it, my power over the mind over your abilities...~The boy gulped as the dragon grinned to this challenge his little captive had in mind. ~Just like your proud papa. Time has rewound, just for us...~ (In Life after Death arc Richard is inside the bat cave when Roku makes a bet that his vessel to be cannot save his beloved mentor from his supposed comatose state. Read in to find out!)

~Y-Yes, and I trust that you'll stick to any basic rules-

~Gods require constructive ways to reflect their emotions on the world. We are only warriors, not gods. I certainly do not aim for that title as you've had to believe from your father's perspective. I spat upon that _loathsome_ dream thanks to my dearest mentor.~ The king almost dreamily said this out of pure sarcasm. Lilu had killed him in his youth. Their was no denying the king's long held skepticism of those above him..

~Lilu dragged me **from** that belief. ~ The dragon continued to add ~Deity are constantly being made a sham to their societies by the very system called 'faith' which brought those 'same' gods into being. A careless emotion in all, as it crumbles with the desire that all living things yearn for...You know it, is that desire, that human urge which crowns and massacres kingdoms.. Any Anthopologist will tell you. ~The king redirected his words to seem natural enough. Aiden though, wasn't interested in some leisurely history lesson from a crazed lunatic's mindless drabbles.

~Living , staying **alive.** A textbook answer..~The king said as the air grew thick with his powerful influence. ~Yet soul stealers such as I have become, are neither god nor demon, nor immortal...We are forever alive as long as we take what is rightfully -

~Will you accept my wager or not?~ Aiden interrupted. Roku peered over with his hair falling about his broad shoulders. He blinked back and realized that his powers were not yet recovered fully. There was time however, to kill. ~I must retalliate-

He took in a gasp to reply.

~Why...Yes, how else can I show you the way that only I know of? It is my duty to finish what I started long **ago..~**

Roku was certainly not one to kid. Aiden could not look away for some reason. He believed it a trap yet decided to brace himself against the invasion that would come to his unprotected mind.

Silvery, snaking tendrils were not in plain sight as they reached out- Aiden was ready and took out his starbolts quickly in a flash of solar energy. The dragon again looked back, this time quite frustrated as the dark miasma that had been his projectiles, crumbled to bits in front of the mad king. He snarled. Aiden was up for anything. Like his twin Anna, the boy had revealed his inner fire. His power was too strong to cage. Roku saw this and was starting to get a bit, uncomfortable.

~My bet is that you can open up your deepest regrets , that I can cure you before my sisters find this place-

~Try an entire sister- _hood.~_ The god corrected with had Aiden wondering why the king had said that.

~The goddess division is venerated , the spirit world is impartial to the ways of the Anima- Yet the Feminine soul , the Matriarcal (typo!?) divide will have me torn to pieces. You , then you shall become a hero which in turn vanquished the crying demon as he wept..Is that what you aim to _do?~_ The king cocked his head, the game for from having begun. ,

~My goal is to find out what I _can_ do...~ Aden felt his skull become lighter as their minds had begun the pricess of linking with one another. Roku shut his eyes slowly before a few stray words rumbled out of the god's belly in a chuckle. ~We'll see about that, my mind had dragged others like you in...Never to return to the lives they once knew...~

~I **intent** to find out why..~ It was Aiden's mantra which would propel him further into finding his future, ideal self. He did not know it yet. Maybe...It had started!

 **~Hah!~** The king huffed a laugh with that wry smile all his own , somewhere within the confines of this astrally connected link Aiden felt its burn. He would not be outdone..

~You were able to quit a thought. So **what!~** The god spat to the blonde teen as his voice echoed throught Aiden's tormented skull. He had already started with his mind games. A demon's calling card was never bare. Aiden licked his lips and got ready. He was no psychic..But he had to try. If this worked,the myth's last page would reveal itself. He remembered Hecate's words. She was not at all cruel.

~The goddess of crossroads and witches..~ The god mused as his eyes seemed a cheshire cat's in the dark. Aiden threw his arm up over his eyes. Hypnotism, a dirty trick by a loathsome dragon's intent.

~She wished to do _more_ than save you, she wanted to see what made you **tick!~** Clocks, granfather clocks fell from the sky as a floor of maroon tiles appeared beneath the bonde's feet. He ran. As if a dangerous cartoon meant to harm the hero, no pianos were shown yet the skit felt real. He was going to be crushed by his deal. Aiden had to stay focussed!(typo?)

~You scurry away from me **here!?~** The god continued to mock the hero as he let free his firey saber instead of a katana this time. ~I have to find your one crack in that armor! I'm not leaving before I do that !~ Aiden used his starbolt as a weapon by sending it like the eater was a racket, he hit the ball annd..

~Got you!~ The teen smirked as he'd heard a sharp grunt from the darkness and jumped-

 **~Huh!?~** A villa in...Greece? That was...A _portalway?.._

 _/_

Aiden looked around and saw so many from the era of higher and upper class just lounging about. He walked past and found that his body was not tangible enough to be seen. ~Ok...So, he pulled me in..Is this one of his memories?~ The teen asked himself as he soon found that this was no real villa, yet a temple. A real one with pillars and priestesses. Then,he spotted one, a girl who ran after what looked to be a violet haired-

~Ra-

~High Priestess, Ravenna.~ Another came to meet the two, the light haired fair girl and her senior it looked. Ravenna, the prophetess.

 _~Ah,_ Lady Moon Mother, Artemis. ~ Aiden's eyes widened as he instinctually hid behind a pillar..Ravenna couldsee the unseen world of spirit, she was fully that powerful if he got caught...No wonder Raven of the Titans was such a like mind to consider the r-

~Why are you off from your classes, Agatha? Ravenna, you spoil this girl far to much!~ Artemis puther hands to her hips, then switched to crossing her arms full of concern for the two's informal relationship. ~Is she even able to pass her ex-

~The sisters of our unit have allowed the girl to work as my faithful protege..~ Ravenna looked back warmly into the light eyed child's . ~ She causes me no such strain in our day- to -day. ~ Ravenna was glad for this time she had, as if something would tug the girl from her sights.

Aiden looked on as if this Agatha had not even reached puberty. She was small, meek, childish in her steps and she clung to her so-called goddess with a daughter's eyes. She was a loyal follower..poor kid...

~My _protege_ and I were simply strolling the grounds to clear our minds.~ Ravenna said this as Agatha nodded to respond curtly to the other goddess. ~ We..We wanted to gather in..inspiration...Lady Artemis..~ She told the other brunette goddess truthully.

The goddess's hair shone now with auburn streaks over her confusion, yet she allowed the two to pass. ~You will keep to your studies, regardless of your hidden affections for your teacher. ~ Artemis reminded the younger priestess as she bobbed her head in agreement twice. ~ Yes, Lady Artemis! ~

~As for your dear tutor, she is not your only teacher here at the temple of the Delphi Priesthood..This sect is to seers and future goddess incarnations. I was gven my role by blood, yet I turned to this sect to all others unlike I, to have a role within their governing city and state-

~We are _more_ than greatful.~ Ravenna bowed a bit as her white robes fell to drape slightly against the stoney path of the temple grounds. Agatha mimicked her teacher and let her lighter , shorter dress stay against her back. She did not have reason to woo anyone here. Her role was as the youngest priestess, a priestess who would later join her sisters as an Agent of The Delpi Sect of Immortals.

~Then do **not** disappoint. ~ Artemis turned away to walk from those pitiful eyes. Little Agatha had not been oh- so sincere while Lady Ravenna had been away. It irked the moon deity as her eyes fell back the path laid out before her. ~She has been keeping a secret , Hecate knows much of this curse. ~ Artemis grumbled as she walked away coldly, ignoring the girl and her teacher without so much as a good day

~Is..she mad at us?~ Agatha asked coyly , oncethe other deity had turned a corner of the grounds for good. Ravenna looked intothat direction where Artemis had stomped off.

~Agatha, my dear..~ Ravenna tried to form the words that she knew would break the child's heart..

~I think it best, that you should return, now.~ The lightly cloaked prophetess looked down at her stunned pupil. Agatha could not speak as her eyes were soon hidden by the girl's hood she wore to cover them.

~ I understand...She is in the way agai-

~You are not permitted to be as my only child! Do you understand?~ The prophetess snapped and had the girl once again with a feeling of dismissal. All oif her teachers were cruel, yet Lady Ravenna...

~I...I...I want !-

~Return _now._ If the higher ranking gods catch us here, they will have your affliction melted from your bones. Do you understand? I..I should _never_ have allowed this...~

~But..but, my condition is _better!_ I cannot see them anymore, those thoughts are gone when I am with you, Ravenna-

~Which is why you must part, we cannot aloow that semon inside you to have its way.~ The prophetess said. ~ Go back, they will protect you if you only just -

 _~No!~_ Aiden saw the girl's eyes fill to the brim with crystalline tears. ~ I don't want you to leave me alone with them! They think I am a _monster!~_

~She's like a scared meta- human..wow..~ Aiden nticed this as Agatha's wrists had started to glow. ~ I don't want you to follow me..so go away or apologize!~ The girl sent her powers to lift up the Earth below her feet. ~ I don't want to feel your pity on me...I wanted your kindness, but it is fake just like their love..!~ She shouted and pushed the ground to splinter below them even deeper. Aiden felt the cracks bleed, he heard a growl before...It was -

~Little _Sorceress!~_ Lilu...Aiden groaned. She had turned Agatha against her kind, the demon was his late enemy to date. Agatha's demon and so many others'.

Lilith emmerged from the Earth and let her wings settle by her sides before she let out a high pitched , relieved sigh.

~Is this the location? Should I do something, about your _teacher_ here?~

Agatha looked up in ahock, as if a knife wound had been twisted. She ran, yet Lilith stood before the gods of their time and the high priestess Ravenna. What a blessing this was!

~Then..the demon was you, **Sumerian!-**

~I _beg_ your pardon! Mesopotamia wasn't my **only** reign you know! I exist to-day in the big man's book back in the desert country from whence I was _damned!~_ Her teeth shown bright as the goddess unit under Athena came barreling in from the air. They came with bows and spears a plenty to toss at the unsightly harpy . Ravenna aided in bringing the goddess to stand further away. She even began opening a 'special' rift to throw the ugly creature into. For having corrupted poor Agatha, she was supposed to embody Gaia one day!

~I'll finish you off with your dearest daughter as my keepsake. I'll erase all of the girl's horrible memories and replace them with the contempt she'll soon harbour..For your race of gods!~

An army, she was creating an army through time and space ! Agatha's emotions had called the demon here. She, she had failed to save the child...Now...

Aiden ran from the events yet the demonic woman sniffed the air as if...

~The air is cooler than the month doth proclaim. Who is summoning another of light!?~ She reared her head at the other deity as the priestess Ravenna stood grounded, awaiting cover from the senior division of Grecian mothers.

~Shoot...She can sense me?..~ Aiden bit his lip and thought as the demon seemed ok with letting the matter go to attack -

~The temple! Protect out sacred power! We must not fall to _**HER**_ madness! ~ The fellow deity, spirit, incarnations, gods and so much in the form as killers...Oh god...It was an onslaught!?... Then..Where then had Agatha gone?

The first step, Aiden dodged a few glaring turns from the demoness's all seeing vision. She wasn't really like...

~Just like..~ It clicked and Aiden knew where to locate Agatha. He knew where she was going next.

/

Up a steep slope she turned..The woods was the only place. Agatha had to look for the Nymph..She had to find the lord of the Pan! Someone to stop her raging from happening!-

~Are you, Lady Agatha by _chance?~_ A handsome sire with his feet to the Earth yet his eyes of a darkness that was not of and deity...Agatha sniffled and tried to ignore the man,though something egged her on to ask.

~You..you know my name?..~ She hiccuped as the male noticed the girl's distress. ~Yes, I was in fact on my way in-

~Don't go **there!~** Agatha blurted out, startling the young man somewhat. ~Huh, why _not?~_ The man seemed to be calm enough..Maybe she could ask him for help. The girl took in a gulpand then tried to find the words that would not scare this poor unsuspecting stranger..He was older. In human terms, a young adolescent by the age of sixteen or so...

~Am I frightening you?~ The teen's dark hair and eyes were interesting as he seemed to be so very noble while dressed fartoo warmly. He wore shades of black so maybe...was he Cronus come to take the little trouble maker back with him to Hades? She started to feel a lump form deep in her stomach. ~ Oh, dear me..~ The gentleman took to the way the girl looked to curl up into herself..He smiled back and extended his hand with something inside his palm. He was, giving her...

 _~Stop!~_ Aiden cried out . It was the dragon..He was helping Lilu destroy the temple, he was after...this was **soo** wrong!

 _~Huh!?~_ Agatha looked away for a moment , transfixed by the sound of something unnaturally there..

~You'll never shed your skin if you keep on resisting these **changes!~** The dragon had taken the silvery pouch from his own palm, pulling out a small round disc he edged towards the confused priestess.

Poison? A ..No, no. Focus. Aiden called out again.

 _~Aggie! Watch out, behind you!~_ Agatha turned with a sharp gasp as she evaded the man's cruel hand at her wrist in miliseconds. **~Aagh!~** She was resisting, she wasn't going to be tempted..Even if she had to leave her world to find herself again.

 _~Run! Call your forest friends! Hurry!~_ He was relieved that she could hear his shouts. Aiden noticed however that the man with serpentine skin..was not the same dragon as his soul stealer counterpart. He retracted his grip, and was even starting to display the body language of one who actually **FELT** regret! His palms were shaking beneath his rider gloves. He had come here from another time with his mistress and teacher Lilu, now! Now Roku was not Roku...Who was he!?

 ** _~Aaaagh!~_** The demon in him however knew the plan would only work if the girl came along by the succubi mother's orders. This version of a sixteen year old 'Roku' materialized a dark horse which he summoned from another time by the animal's gear. ~Hyaa!~ He hit the reins hard as Aggie shouted out a spell for protection. As per Aiden's request,the voice of that sad songbird rang clear out across, right towards the forest of a rather annoyed-

~By the gods! Should Zeus ever see your face, I would have none of his praise for such a crime!~

In the forest glen was the wandering bachelor, the sun in a son's body..Apollo, or rather Kaien's original incarnation.

 _~Ah...~_ Aiden gawked as the sun child of Zeus had just finished on a 'hunting is mostly...eh bad, never kill for sport unless an ecological disaster is caused by overpopulation which is permitted by many- however! It should be the very, last resort in the animal world! Humans live in it, we don't own a thing. We owe the Earth that gratitude as much as Aiden's powers are taken for granted from a dang Phoenix ...Got carried away...little tired from a crazy week but keep up with the extra drama!)

~I was only seeing to my dearest Nymph daughters, for they have enjoyed my company forever- even more so since I am grown. ~ The cocky expression said otherwise as Aiden groaned and slapped a palm over his face. If he ever made it out alive...Kaien would be neutered. Permanantly.

~So, you want to woo this young maiden, whisk her away when she is clearly of a higher cause than you see?~ The snarky comment as going to have Aggie lost for sure! How..oh yeah! He had a medium!

 _~Agatha! Umm, hi!~_ Agatha jumped and saw the other two men exchange glances before they again turned towards one another. _~Sorry! I...Am kind of invisible to them, y-_

~Why do you seeem like you, are not going to hurt me like these other bafoons?~ Agatha spoke through the speak to keep her enemies at bay.

~I _am not from here, but_ I _don't want to hurt you at all..My job right now is to get_ _the guy who tried to grab you back in prison. He's not_ a _good guy so I'm trying to change him.._ ~

Agatha was surprised greatly by the response. ~ Do you wish for me to fight? I can only use magic, my combat abilities...oh..That is ranks apart from my own...So what is your request, dear spirit?~ Aggie asked. The blonde thought as Agatha awaited his master plan in escaping both their fates. _~Help Apollo win, he is on our side.~_ The girl heard Aiden and scrunched up her nose in disgust. Good gods! The playful prince was...How could she describe him?..

 _~He's better than you think_ _on my world, not too much of...A bad guy at all.~_ Aiden tried to use as little in his wording to describe the wily pooch. Aggie had to act quickly The dragon and Deity Apollo were about face off!

~Your true form isn't easy to detect...?~ Apollo noticed as the darkly clad wanderer smirked with a dry cackle. ~I don't enjoy showing my true face to ...those unworthy-

 _~Corn-ball enough, much?~_ Aiden huffed . Roku was a goofy kid playing kidnapper for his 'mumsy.' No matter which way you sliced it.

~Prince Apollo!~ Agatha finally called out to her tool. ~ Drag that demon to Olympus for trial! He is a wanted criminal!~ Aiden was overjoyed but the other entity seemed to spit to this rejection. ~ Too bad , malady. My queen was going to lift that curse to cure you forever- You'll now be destroyed with your saviour as a result!~

The enemy swept his cloak up to reveal blades, magic relics. Not your average travelling sales - man!

~Hup hup!~ The deity Apollo saw this coming and laughed at the demon's obvious motives with his weapon prepped for battle beneath his royal robes. ~You will be tried honorably before my father's council of the gods!~ The two had a history Aiden guessed, because Apollo did not bother in holding back.

/

I am continuing with more chapters until this thingis put to bed. Owch! Apollo was a gentleman? Roku was a creep at age 16? What's going on with Chronos and Vee? Did Hecate really mean to help the heroes by protecting Aiden from Roku in the first place? Why is Aiden bothing to fix a monster ? Find out in chapter 19! Read on and staay curious!


	20. Chapter 20

Teen Titans; New Generations; Storyteller Arc - Manifesto Pages; Part Two; Chapter 19: Saying A Prayer For You - Jam Sessions and Dimensional Duets.

/

Time to touch off on the next chapter of this arc!

Aiden had travelled to the icy lands of The Eternal Barrens within the spirit world . He had been to the Great Phoenix's temple where the sun and mountains seemed to contain the secrets to all life...

He had scaled the Temples of The Delphi Sect of Immortal and Eternal beings. A place not unknown in the spirit worlder's history books . However, Roku ; the scoundrel anti- deity had found his way inside the void of space and time, dragging Aiden along for a turn - winding the clocks back to a time where nothing stood in the demoness Lilith's way . Her young pupil had been the dragon.

Still then, as Aiden looked over the studdering mass of angst and a degree of spite in the sixteen year old version's heart, he was still overcome by a thought that simply would not go away. Roku was not Roku here. Before the turning, he had been named Raku by his birth parents.) Just as the old texts had hidden this fact from plain sight this, was the book cover to cover of the Forbidden Myth...

~Hecate wanted me to read it...I found the last pages like she said.~ Aiden realized as his head turned to see the fight raging on over the young priestess Agatha's mental health and well - being.

He was taken by the difference in the god Apollo's appearance. The god's hair was a shimmering golden auburn which had the teen looking with a squint- Kaien was nothing like this male . He, this Apollo was flashy. Still, that trait was clearly the god's trademark value even on Earth in the present day. Yet, something made Aiden wonder if he shoud trust the deity fully... Would Aggie be safe in this deity's hands once Aiden had left her? Well after his one trial, the teen's attempts so far had obviously worked in trying to communicate via the 'speak.' Maybe this Apollo was a good guy tgen,or just a toadie for his papa?

Agatha assisted Apollo just as her ghoulie buddy had told her to to avoid capture. It was the only way to supress the demon Roku's influence. Aiden had also tried to see if Apollo could see him- yet the god did not look to meet Agatha's eyes as she was still considered a holy woman's child.

Aiden saw that Raku's facade had been entirely battered by the sun god's ultimatum. His wild card of tge drawn. This ideal manliness was not enough though once another came to aid the failure child protege of Lady Lilu.

~You want her to go back?~ The dark eyes of Raku's shot up suddenly as if he'd had his own fairy in the air...The real king!

~Roku!~ Aiden heard the cackle and turned his speak off to avoid pulling poor Aggie into the blonde's nightmare world.

~Ready for the next chapter, chosen?~ The god waved his arms wide as the world soon turned pitch black. He was...In !

Cyborg awoke on the floor backstage. His head spun in circles, a concert apparantly had been going on..

He had..a guard's badge? VIP?

The hero shook his head then heard the groan of someone familiar to his left. Stuck with his keester plastered to the bottom of a mop bucket, Gar had awoken as well to find that his current form was that of a chimpanzee. He grunted as the hero's eyes opened wide enough to glance at the alien scenery.

"Nobody makes a monkey outta me! This soo bites! _C'mon!"_

"You think **that's** bad, then look at your chest. We were keepin' everyone in line..But I can't remember when that all happened.." Cy groaned and stood up with his body feeling faint from the mind blowing attack, performed by a certain 'kitty.'

"That cat girl assassin did this, dude!" Gar remembered as his chimp body returned and transformed back into his original self, a Titan that had been under the control of a spirit cat's, monkey -magic. What a turn out that had been!

"She turned on us in Rome and, and..Why are we standing _around!"_ Gar jumped up and almost fell back over as he tugged himself from the useless, pail. " We have to go help the team out, pronto!-

"Cause they are still in Italy, right?" Cy questioned the younger hero. Cy quickly calmed himself with a quick exhale.

"I say just take the chance!-

Gar jumped right back into the debate.

"An' I say we gotta play it smart- not go in all guns blazin! " Cy reprimanded his still - reckless ally with a growl. "What if she's still got a hold on us? Why are we even free from her mind control, cause that would mean that somethin's happened to her? Ask anymore questions an' I will do the chargin' in for ya, got that?"

"Uhh, yessir?" Gar shrugged his shoulders and chuckled nervously, trying to calm down.

Cy this time, instead of Gar himself, had let the nonesense evaporate. "Then lemma try somethin'." Cy let his tech arm drop as it crawled across the stage floor and peeked behind a standing curtain. The arm turned back with sparking couple of electric sizzles and rushed over to its creator in the nick of time. Cy frowned as Gar was equally taken by what had just nearly toasted the mechanical arm from completing its fullttask.

"Did something out there...Fry its circuits?" Gar asked with a sense of caution in his voice. He was afraid to prod the machine , hoping it did nothave a charge left to see if his prediction might have been true.

Cy easily reattached(typo) the damaged arm to his shoulder with a soft grunt. "Guess we'll find out soon enough." He said with a nod to his pal, Changeling. Gar grinned back, ready for anything that fate could and would toss their way.

The two went as slowly as they could, tip - toing to find that there wasn't anyone else backatage at that moment.

Gar was the first to look where the arm had come to a screeching halt. His eyes grew to the aize of dinner plates , which had Cy realizec, that the soundwaves were to blame. He set up his defenses to avoid another mind control episode. It worked, but Gar was out of control once again by that eerie pitch... He leaped up as a wild lion and had Cyborg shouting back, trying to get his buddy to calm down. "You should'a not gone in with!-

"Whoa! Don't get fresh, Changelin'!" Cy dodged the cat's big claws as they swat at the robo-hero. "Urgh! I am gonna have to bring you outta this!" Cy decided that he would have to shut down the performance of whomever had been making a mess of his pal's care free mind throughout their journey. This was three times in the cours of three years!

"You gotta calm down, I'm your bud! C'mon ! Snap _out..of_ it!" Cyborg sent a shocking wave of light pounding down onto the cat as it sent...Wait! Cy looked up. He had done no such thing at all. It had been the real mastermind up in lights!

~My audience wants an encore! Help me throw the **switch!~** The girl..Cy noticed her and shook with rage.

"The copy cat, Amelia, right?" Cy shouted up to the girl in black. She giggled and floated on down by way of levitation. Another beam was sent after the kid dopple by someone Cy was all to glad to have arrived without haste.

"Rae! You **soo** don't wanna miss the after-party! Umm, how'd you end up -

"How did you escape that spirit's mind control?" She interrupted , just as the fake Ami had won back her strength. ~Horrid lights that cascade around, you are expressing nothing of your warmth to _mee...~_

"Look **out!"** Raven warned as Richard and Kori tugged both Gar and Cyborg out of Amelia's line of fire. She sent instead her zombified fans to crowd the Tameranian heroine.

Kori was saved by Esme, who sent a wave of water to cause the zombie's grips to loosen. "Thank you, friend Esmeralda!" Kori smiled back to her savior. Esme however was panting. She had done so to save the ex- princess by way of desperation. Her powers were running out - still they had not recharged. Cliff seemed to be protecting Esme for this very reason. Her magic was far too draining to use, it would sometimes leave her stuck up in her hotel room for hours. But now...

~I..Can fix myself later, once we have defeated the enemy forever...~ She panted. Cliff reacted swiftly and ran over to aid the teams. His earth and wood powers were still able to hold back enough of the heroes' many obstacles.

~Get behind us, Titans! She's not a force to be messed with!~ He growled out as Kori seemed to wish that the real Ami had been safe..This was not she had intended to become a reality to anyone..

~I am pouring it pouring it..Aaall Awayyyy! Drowning in drowning in drowning innnn, my dismaaay...So calling out calling out calllinnnng oooouuut!~ The howl had the crowd react. Richard threw a set of earbuds onto Bach's as he changed back with a low moaninto his heroic self again. "Glad you had me , jeez! Is this a record of how many times I-

~And if you _faaalll...Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!_ ~ Raven narrowed her eyes then put her magic to surround her ears for extra protection. "We need another!-

 **~Here!~** Aluehainyu flew down from her hole inside a well positioned rift. Ah, for once the portalway did not disappoint.

~Al! Wait _up!~Kay_ cried out as he and Vee bounded along excitedly from behind. " Glad you could crash the party!" Richard grinned. Alue smirked down to her charges as she dove directly for the only mic- the one she'd gladly take right from the dark miko's hands without further ado...

~Consider your morbid solo , _cancelled!~_ She had succeeded as Amelia fell back, her eyes in shock as the flying, Raven Winged Eternal now had the floor. It was a ballad. No, more heavy metal for this super star! She needed more power!..

Cliff rushed off to find the last act's electric keyboards. Kay took to a bass while Vee decided to help with the second guitar's perfect riff to be had. Esme looked on and smiled before having to rest in Raven's arms (thanks to the empath being only feet away from where the daemoness had decided to fall.)

~This one is for you, Sanremo, AWAKEN TO OUR **SOUND!~**

A sound of tinkling chimes opened for what looked to be a start - the start of something extraodinary.

~We have been along this narrow street, it is a road that never seems to end. I am waiting, to find when I will know ...Just, what to expect..I cannot say...~

The guitar was 'jazzy.' It was soft and mellow as the many people in the crowd awoke to a swaying wave - as it were. The Titans felt touched by the sakura haired Eternal's matured voice. She still sounded like an angel between worlds. Neither good nor perfect, just as sincere as what her heart surely felt.

~I, have no reason to lie down my time here. We have only to right a wrong...I was never alone as you-

Suddenly, the stage lit up as if this were the grand arrival of a royal face.

~Returning for a limited time mention! Miss, Cecilia _**Daia!~**_ The voice of the powerful blonde's voice was as spider's silk. Her whisper was hauntingly sweet as her tune reached out to combine with the harmonics of both instrumentals and with the elder Eternal.

~As you, you and I will sing again! We have yet to end it now! You have oonlllyy! To see us to the stars! Oh! Oooohhh!~

The band ramped up a set of drums. The guitar burned a hole through the ceiling. The keys of the keyboard had the crowds turning to shout happily.

~Ooh ohh **ohhh!** Where have you gone before the last is sung! I HAD TO SEE IT THROUGH! I HAD TO HAD TO FIIND!~

The crowd was roaring as the dazed Amelia narrowed her gaze darkly before vanishing into the coldest smog her powers could concoct.

~This is your hurrah, not mine..~ She left that one sentence for the Titans to catch . Raven frowned and turned to Cici who winked back. ~ We have a ton of songs planned to end tonight, so let us host the end of this spectacular event! Bellissima! **Gratzi!** ~ The girl was once from the Roma of the past, yet today living in the modern world meant that only a few words of the Italian language could be spoken by the dark diva of the Black Widow Covenant. She was a part of the free domain of tomorrow and forever.

/

As the team hurried to head on after Amelia to her next location, the Titans and Guardians wondered just what was about to happen- the young heroes and the Grayson children were indefinitely on opposite sides of the globe, though even so the hours that passed felt as if they never had been further fromtheir goal than before.. Stuck within a loopthat existed for their cause. It was at that moment that Verra almost had to hold back a laugh as the cat popped his head through an extra vortex. Raven turned to the cat as if he had nothing to hide by that snicker.

 _~What?~_ She asked as if the joke had been about someone closeby. ~Why are you laughing?..~ She saw the cat's suspicious gaze as he held back the last of a sniff , then answered;

~No, I just know where time bubbles come from!~ He chuckled again before Raven huffed and went on ahead, shrugging off the cat's confusing comment.

~She would have understood, why not just come clean of it, already?~ Kayu had sneaked up behind his cousin to add unexpectedly. ~This whole bargain of yours will soon end up in their hands anyway.~ He noted to the other fox hybrid with a raised, light coloured eyebrow.

~I _intend_ to , once the smoke clears. I 'll do it before again come face to face with the devious crone.~

~You really have it out for her, huh mate?~ Kayu grinned and swam on ahead through the astrally-driven space. Vee turned upside down and pretended to lay on his furry back like the pup he always had been.

~I have a lot out for the gods after they made a big mistake with the same demon who cursed me. They let him lead his life right to the bowels...I could have tried to free the son but...Agh..~ The cat groaned unhappily. ~Getting the deity to quit living in denial is like convincing Isis to free me from Chronos's void all over again! I had to pay with a portion of my memories!~ The cat snorted as his cousin just listened and nodded back to the moaning pup.

~I shan't ever forget that date with destiny.~ Kay recalled the day the Titans had come to the spirit world where Kayu's mumsy had not yet been at full power. He had been manipulated by Slade somehow. The dragon had been overshadowing the assassin for hire on and off without showing his face without the Titans being able to guess his full intentions. Not until the wedding of Bruce Wayne's final call..Which had made the dragon's return imminent and completely plausible despite any rumors from the council of Spirit...(typo?)

~We have had a longer run than I might 'ave pictured it..~ Kay reflected on this old feeling with a sigh. Verra was accomplished in many countries around the globe as Takahara Shoji. Not the youngest guardian, yet he had plans to start a new branch in Singapore soon.

~~Have we had enough you think?~ Kay wondered to his waiting ally, who's patience he'd been entirely a beacon for Kay back in Rome. The pope had not even crossed the fox's or cat's paths. Lady Catherine had indeed not cared once her allies had flewn off, either way being a figurehead- she must have been mentally drained to boot. After all, Cici was watching her mum's back 24/7.

~So, then what say you?~ Vee lazily opened one eye whilst returning to his form as a warrior in all black. ~After I pay the piper my dues, I am going to be Takahara a bit longer. The idea of running my own sect never brought a grin to these cheeks! ~ The male pretended to have his face expand with a lowered toneand a mocking expression. Kayu had to laugh though by how his brother in arms never looked so good in his life. He must have really talked politics with death itself to see such drastic ende...

~You are staying for the kids, I did see you 'acting' like your niece a minute ago there.~ The sigh again returned as Kay waved an arm up to excuse himself a moment. ~If you become grounded too long again, you'll be a sorry bloke etched with too many sins on your coat to carry on.~

~The fabric was already woven for me. Nothing can make me budge, but like I told ya' man. ~ The other male smirked. ~It is a thought, I won't be losing my soul until Death comes on swift wings to pluck me from those tantalizing dreams I've got. ~

~Not much of a confession.~ Kay shook his head and gave in. Veravakumu was supposed to have revived his nation. Just as Ava Marie had done for the Wintry Barrens , Verra was to commit to the same oath to repair his ancestor's kingdom. Yet, Shoji's existance had made most of this, next to impossible. The gods hated the fact that Verra had decided himself an unassigned Reincarnate without anyone's permission. This was accounted for under the council's many laws as Vee- after facing and laying with Veronica in the past, had never been the same old dog that the younger had once known inside and out. Kayu had his own demons, but that did not mean that he'd easily ALLOW Verra the lee-way he required. Kayumon's lowly cousin had made a bargain with Death to save Richard Ainsley from his father. As far as the curse that he bore by Roku's hand, that was another story.

Kay was to take up Sayu's staff one day as a full fledged Celestial. Verra was the exact opposite yet he, had been more a hero to any chosen throughout time and space than any other guardian dog.

~We will find the way back, the ride is only through a short intermission. Just sit back and relax. Why not?~ Veravakumu yawned and started to nod off. Of course, his power had yet to come to fulfill the goddess Isis's wishes. He still had a lot to make up for in the long run.

/,/,/,

As Aiden looked about him, he saw what seemed an anomoly. Here, the country was no longer in Greece . It was a palce of expansion, study, dangerous trends andpolitical propaganda..Then, which time had-

~Extra ! Extra! War's to hit our nation! -

~A...War..~

Aiden looked down at his soot coated self. His clothing was still that of his character. The streets were busier that any city could be, yet the grey clouds in the sky above made the day feel like one out of a wintry tale of woes. Perhaps that man's newspaper would be able to fill in a few blanks? Oh, but his cloths!

Aiden frowned and looked to see if he..Wait!

~If I can manifest...Ah, give me the clothing of this world's image!-

By magic alone, Aiden had not realized that the phoenix's power was not as Roku's illusionary magic. His feet had the shoes of the region, yet they were not ...Ok. This was bad!

 _~Haha!~_ The boy droned by his new appearance. His age was fourteen. A terrible time indeed to take a trip through time and space!

~Roku must be close. ~ The boy said, not yet fearing the anti- god's curse. ~I ju-

"After her! **Halt!"** The men ,the bobbies or whatever this world called its cops, had their sticks waving after a young but quick to flee, hooded woman. Her cape was stone grey and her hair beneath , red as a fire in the hearth. Her eyes were green as emerald hills to the north and deeply frightened by her pursuers' gazes. She looked about two years older than poor Aiden with a fame that made the girl look too skinny for her tall height.

"I said!-

Her pale face became an eerie stalk white as she rushed past crowds of city dwellers, while he arms clung to something valuable. A thief? Aiden tilted his head just as the cops were rushing by. They knocked carelessly into a wagon owned by a fruit saleman. The one too many that were going after this fearsome lady , seemed to be adament over her capture. A mere thief would never have provoked such ...Unless the item was very valuable! Wh-

 _~Aha!~_ Aiden slapped his forehead and didn't just see the location- it was clear to him now as a sunny day in Jump City California. ~London, but what year is this!?~ He asked himself, hoping Roku would not try to infiltrate the blonde's mind again. Aiden smoothed back his wild mane and took to his new garb, face, and this strange world hidden deep within the confines of Time's limitless void.

Aiden Grayson charged on, he walked ahead. Now going the exact direction as the pale, red headed miss on the run from those impolite bobbies, he was certain his shoes had been spellbound to keep shuffling dead ahead. ~ She almost didn't look human, compared to everyone else. ~ He thought. ~I have a feeling that going after that woman might be my ticket out of here, before the dragon has anymore brilliant ideas up his sleeve I had better uncover her reason right away..~ The now fourteen year old bit his lip. His birthday had passed. That was right, he had not gotten home in time for Thanksgiving...Oh _well._

~Once we've fixed the dragon's attitude, this 'Chosen' junk will be put to rest. I just wanna go home so that I can apply to San Diego School of -

He stopped short and saw the wings of something unnatural as they flitted away down a narrow alley. Aiden held his breath and dove out and down the alley where he'd spotted some ounces of glittering fairy dust trailing behind the supernatural spook.. The sparkle brought him closer. He just didn't care if it was a trap, knowing any chance the teen had meant that a door could open with just a few changes to the time stream. Any anomalies were welcome right about..

 **"Aahh!"** The woman! He pounced and they fell onto the cobble roads in one swift moment. Aiden had never intended to fall, but the oh-so kind hand of gravity's pull had made him as clumsy as his own mother had been as a Teen Titan."Ow...S...Oh! Oh my god! I...I'm-

 _"You..."_ She was an off person , just as Aiden had guessed earlier. The woman sniffed her attacker as if she were not human. Bin-go was his name- Oh! Her eyes were shut as she quickly retracted from his side.

Her ears beneath the woman's oversized grey hood were slightly curved. She was just like those elven folk back in Ava's realm. A fairy! Aiden was unable to speak. She had surely taken him for a fool.

Her eyes were as a cat's , though not dialated but quite mesmerizing if you had to compare the two species' specific traits. The woman blinked at Aiden with her ruby red lips parting, with her breath coming out in shortened, startled puffs. "You are not a ..." She started then closed her mouth to have Aiden dropped from her, tossed aside like a useless object. Aiden grunted and actually HAD felt a bruise starting to form on his elbow. He looked up excitedly and spoke.

~Wait!~ He remembered the whole incident back from within Greece's past-void. ~You..Can see me?~ The blonde asked.

"Oh, no. I can." The woman dusted off her grey dress and stockings while looking not into Aiden's invisible eyes once to reply, though right through them.

"Though, only witches can see spirits. I must then be one of their kind." The lady giggled only briefly before turning back towards the open streets of this London town. She would have decided to analyze thge situation further, had her eyes not turned back around with her cape flapping wildly about her slim shoulders. She paused, then returned to stare at Aiden as he knelt on the ground, having not yet risen to stand tall again. Her eyes were desperate and fearful, worried even as she responded in a lowered voice.

"Where is my artifact? Did you steal it in that tumble to the streets?" She demanded coldly.

Aiden shook his head , trying to be as honest as he could with this supposed witch of these London streets not wishing to press charges.

"You are not lying to me, your eyes are kind somewhere..Then come. You will help me to locate my artifact." She announced to the baffled blonde. ~ Um, I don't know what it is!~ Aiden sputtered uselessly. ~Why were those police officers trying to catch you? Did you s-

"It was entrusted to me by my lord of the Nether- realms. Since you are a lowly spirit , I must go over as much as possible to remind you of this era's many laws in which one should live by." The girl swept her short red hair back. Her striking green eyes narrowed a bit whilst she explained the ins and outs of this current dimension's rules.

"I am called Lia . My full name is Lia Annelise Ferguson-

~Wha..Wait!~ Aiden stopped the woman and remembered that exact surname, maiden name in this case. ~You just , said Ferguson? Are you by chance related to a deceased Bethel -

"My sister has not lived? " The girl stood back as if an arrow so unholy had pierced her delicate heart. "That is untrue! What land do you hail from?" She exclaimed. "I do not reside in this time by choice. The artifact will reveal this. My reason is also by our world's law. " She huffed and let her to nerves steady again. "I have determined that you too are a visitor from another void, not unlike myself."

Aiden nodded a yes in Lia's direction. ~I'm from Earth, in my present I guess, time?~ Aiden winced as if his story were not credible enough for the pretty Miss Lia to handle. ~Then, can you at least tell me what year this timeline is? ~He asked without stopping to wait for his own nerves to quit rattling.

"Yes, this year in time is approximately the year 1915. The month is October and the day would be the first of this current month." Lia said calmly and while being to point, she decided to stick around to see aout this supposed boy's backstory.

~Oh, so this is London, I saw a lot of similarities on my way...Ah, so then wait!~ Again gasped..~That was close to the first world war...Which means-

~ An air raid from my country, Germany. The spirit kin of the past were not so quick to lose their wits~ She snorted by her own sarcasm. ~This city was where the ones responsible had taken my Lord's spell book. A fairly ancient relic which has been passed down since his beginning in time..." She seemed to mutter to herself these thoughts before calling out to Aiden .

"What is the name that those of your world, call someone such as yourself?"

The two finally set off to search high and low for this netherworld king's prized possession. (typo? Late night, so half a brain to say the least...zzz)

~Oh, um...~ Aiden wondered if he should have let Lia know the real hero's son. He was not from the past..If Earth and time-space collided like in the movies...

~A'ander . I have, a weird name where I come from..Aiden studdered. ~ Yes, he would use Tamaranean name to keep his other one safe. What if she were a witch and worked for some cult underground? He had to be careful in the past with his own life . Even here it looked to be in the midst of turmoil, this world war over the horizon.

"A'ander..."May I call you Anders? It would be strange to, I realise." The red headed miss wondered of her new ally. "Yet I will be able to call to you quickly if w-

~Uh oh!~ Aiden saw a sudden flash in the sky and could not move . Sirens buzzed about in the air as the two froze to listen to a blaring announcement, one very loud and very clear.

~Aair raaid!~

The busy crowds of people were thrown into a panic. The way the two had come earlier, now the duo stood directly across from a communal(?) school yard where many young students were being coralled by their teachers to safer locations from the enemy country's attacks.. Aiden saw something that struck him as too close for comfort, while scanning the spot for his answer .

Roku was there. He was headed for the school as if a messenger of death on red hot coals.

~This is my destination. Aah, brings back memories...~ The god's evil grin sent shicver's up the blonde's spine as he heard almost every word from only feet away.

~Being the fact that my son's come and gone through so many reincarnated bodies, this one really was closest to my heart and many expectations.. at.. Any moment...

Aiden fumed ~The dragon IS such a creep! What the freaking heck does he mean by reincarnations? Was he talking about one of his kids? Or his victims...~

"Anders?" The red headed fae woman tapped the blonde's space with a slender fingertip. "Are you alright?" She lowered her gaze to show some concern for the lad , maybe she was not a true enemy now. But Aiden blinked up to her only now. He replied with a very nervous smile. ~I..Just thought I saw a ghost..~

"As one yourself that is common knowledge, you know?" The girl raised a brow as if interested in this alter being's many hidden woes.

Aiden cleared his throat quickly. ~I.. I know that...Ah, but I'm not dead-

"We may discuss our problems later. " Lia interrupted. "I sense that the relic is very close by." Her eyes scanned the school from across the street. "Inside the building there." She pointed and Aiden did know. It was the bare bit- the obvious- too - good - to - be-so -dang- obvious trap laid right before them. "I am going inside before the airships are anywhere closer to this location. I must find the book before those evil mortals destroy one another and it in the process! It is a useless labour to undertake. For their sakes, I cannot stay to watch the ending...Well, then I shall now be off."

~Huh? I'm coming! You even dragged me along to apologize - so no going off ahead yet!~ Aiden bounded after the girl as his body soon started to feel strange. His limbs were no longer floating, gravity had caught up as his whole human for had become tangible as if ...By magic!

 _"Owch!"_ Aiden saved himself from a badly scraped knee as Lia stood with her eyes wide as a victim of a tragedy.

"You...Were never lying!" She proclaimed and rushed over to help the silly mortal up off the dirty ground. "I am amazed! You come from Earth? Then the relic might be able to send you home again!" Lia tugged Aiden's arm as the two hurried towards the large doors of the school's main entrance.

/,/

The halls were quiet, the rooms looked to be deserted as the two stepped inside. It had two floors unlike many structures in Aiden's century. Lia sniffed again as if her senses were indeed super-human. "Stay close to me. " She said in a soft whisper to her new comrade.

"There is something dangerous here...-

A broom closet opened from the side, swiftly sending a couple mops right at the two as they ducked from the ugly welcome inside. "What was that!?" Aiden gulped as soon as the closet had shut its one door again. "It was a noisy ghost. In my country, these pests are called poltergeists." The very thought had the two walk ahead. Extra items were tossed down. A textbook was thrown from one classroom to slam against the wall right after Aiden had gingerly taken only ten steps more. He froze up and was willing to run, just as Lia looked ready to do the same at any moment.

"We will head for the second floor where I sense the book's presence is closest...We must not show our fear to the imp being that is trying to frighten us." She explained. "It too is very afraid of this war. It will believe us to be a threat, so please be as cautious as I am being ..." She turned her eyes away to catch the first signs of a waiting pause from the poltergeist.

 **"Now!"** Her eyes narrowed as Lia and Aiden dashed across the wooden boards towards the first flight of stairs that they could reach. The poltergeist let out a wail as it never dared to show itself- just its contempt towards any intruders with flying objects flinging absolutely everywhere!

"Take _cover!"_ Aiden knocked away a pair of sharp pencils from hitting Lia square in her face- he narrowly avoided a few chalk sticks and an eraser from coming in from behind to duo due to his heroic stunt.

"Cut it _out!"_ Aiden shouted to the wailing ghoul in the rafters of the school's very foundation.

"It is not your fault!" Lia cried out to the ghost as well. "You were not well as a mortal! I can _sense_ your pain...We only wish to retrieve a very important artifact! We will leave once it has been reclaimed! I pray that you find finally the end to your suffering..."

Lia brought her hands together to show her good faith to the terrified , miserable spirit up above. The wailing died down as if the daemon had gone further off. Inch by inch it lessened until Aiden could only gasp by the fortunate turn of events. She really was a witch! A good witch , for goodness sake!

"You calmed it down, by just talking?" He asked with a frown as the two took to climbing the stairwell to the school's only second floor.

"I was a witch in my time. Ever throughout the eras gone and past us, my soul has always been bound to the laws of a deity who predicts wonderous ends.." She stopped at the second flight and looked down where Aiden (Anders) stood only feet from her saddened gaze. "My life is forever and I, also do not live as the living do. I am what you mortals might call, a half-blood. "

"We do?" Aiden asked as if he didn't know the term. "You are upset so let's, just wait till we find your book. I don't want -

"I cry by feeling the past's message." Lia held a hand and clenched it strongly to her chest with a pursed frown. "Falling is never easy. We care for the ones we love with our sacrifice. I was on a journey to discover the whereabouts of my big sister. Bethel has broken HIS law. The courts I work alongside know this. They have yet to forgive my sister for destroying an entire village overnight by the summoned 'One Sent By Death's Decree."

"Not that I can't let you finish..." Aiden interrupted then pointed at the ghouls racing after them, up the steps with the speed of 'ultimate fighters.'

"To our destination! My past keeps us!" Lia sent a wave of powerful moon energy to barricade the way back. The demons clammbered after but were easily blocked by the reminiscing(typo) sorceress. (Just got off having a bad bug. Lost weight so fatigue strikes back...Only in the summer. Sorry for the lazy editing!)

Aiden crossed his fingers as the two reached a doorway up top where the second year classrooms were in a haze- under the power of another vagrant soul come to lay waste to the fair Lia's past.

/ /

The classroom doors opened as if the poltergeist had never been sent to the heaven it deserved. The one to come out with his hands behind his back, smirking a devil's grin. It was the dragon without consequence, without a lack of disregard for this very meeting that was bound to occur. This was his past as well anyhow, he had made it so.

~So good of you to drop on by...I do see, that you have found a friend...An old enemy to my teacher, no less..~

~I was spared by your mentor's _madness!~_ Lia's eyes turned to serpentine slits. Her rage was no longer suppressed..She remembered the one to have allowed everything , the toadie of the ex - queen of all of man's artificial sins.

~That's _right.~_ Roku's eyes shone as if he had not intended to end his taunting so soon. ~ This witch swore herself, soul and all- her blood and bone to a Lord Baphomet from such an underworld...He was such a kindly goat , that rascal!-

~Your teasing will only lead to a crack in the fabric of your existance!~ Lia huffed back. ~ You are as evil as the woman who tried to overthrow the king of the void's pro-

~I _doubt_ the readers of such a story would like a plot twist to ruin their experience for them, wouldn't you just feel the same ?~ Roku turned to a blank space by the door as if trying to contact or summon a monster. Yet, nothing popped out. Lia was unperturbed by his shenanigans and ignored the older male's foolishness. Aiden just stood dumb beside his new companion and thought his brain would stop ticking away from the act if Roku took him to any more timelines.

Roku shuffled his feet and softly walked about the spot wherest his boots had been grounded. He made a sound next that of an 'ah- _hmm'_ The dragon noticed the lack of _a_ reaction. He then blinked, shrugged his shoulders with a sigh, and waved his arm in a welcome gesture for the two to step into the classroom with the kook of all kooks. The king was inside first and foremost. Aiden and Lia did not want to enter through those doors with an illusionist in his prime( twice over no less.) They wanted to find Lia's relic so that she would have the power to send 'Anders' to his own time.

~We should stay wh-

~I fear he intends to trap us if we do not respond. ~ Lia said with a mutter into her chest. She did not hesitate. Aiden reached out his hand to grab Lia's wrist as the woman stepped into the darkened classroom with one foot still on the wooden floor of the hallway. He was tugged into the murky shadows of this king's very manifestation of fear..

~I _knew_ it!~ Aiden shouted as the walls came down- Lia stood watching a boy's memories in black and white. A movie , a view of the past before...

 _~Before_ I was transported here with him..~ Aiden saw this as an opportunity however . He looked and saw that this child was a student. A child with a short tail of black hair and the exact same uniform that all of his classmates had on. He was young, not even twelve it looked like. ~Richard. Ainsly.~ Aiden gawked by how this kid had been reborn before, as his own dad had averted the son's take-over many times. After the attack on their world two years ago, Shoji, Isa, Kori, Vic and Dick Grayson had come clean. They had even pulled the other senior Titans aside to explain the story that all spirit world beings knew of.

~Would you please seem after class, Mr. Anderson?~

Hum, that was interesting. Anders...Was there a connection? Aiden decided to take not of any and everything he could. This was clue. A clue that would lead the root of the mad god's suffering.

~I, I do no-

 _~ah!~_ The boy was painfully lead by his ear to another corner of the room. Old school, Aiden cringed by the treatment. ~You are not to decide by yourself. The sister of the home in which you grew up in is quite cross, in fact. She has even insisted that you be given the strictest of examples to learn from your actions by. ~ The teacher materialsed to better explain this hazy story a tad. She had snow white hair that was tied up in a tighy bun. Her nose was as a beak, long and with a pair of spectacles just tipped off the brim by her sudden upset.

She wore the attire of a school teacher. A teacher whom had ...

Lia grit her fists and thought only of Roku's tricks leading her on. She had seen his work before, in Germany where her mother had been buried with the rest of her village. It had been a year that the man had ridden horseback beside a Count. One called Lord Lothos . A devilish teacher as well, after Lilu had allowed her pet any ounce of his freedom. The count was always high on the lust he craved. Blood mostly. He had even a heritage and relation to thee Count Vlad legend which made this nephew only as bad as his gruesome great, great uncle!

Aiden watched the film play on as Roku directed everything from the shadows..

These dancing shadows would reveal it. Aiden gulped. A way to free this demon forever from his curse. That, and to destroy the cycle's hold over the current and future 'chosen ' relics for good.

/,/

Richard, who was he then before the war? Find out in chapter twenty! In this for the long haul it seems..So! Stay curious annd read on!


	21. Chapter 21

Teen Titans; New Generations -Storyteller Arc Part Two; The Manifesto Pages ; Chapter 20: I'll See You Again- Tokyo Sunrise- Realease Me From That Painful Truth.

/

~Miss Ami?~ Haru fretted again over Amelia's subtle transformation. Her eyebrows knitted themselves to form aging creases.

Amaterasu wanted to face her oppressor so badly, why through the girl? She had powers, yet they were unrefined as a gem - left to the thaw of an ageless winter against the cold mountain's ground.

A holy woman herself, Haru had a way of keeping in touch with the goddess. Yet Kaede had been taken over by that raw force..That, Marcus child from another time in time space's very web of infinite realities since past.

Kaede held herself down low and away from the security cameras as the group zoned in on the correct floor; after hours of deflecting bombs, brigades of manacing bats, and of course rogue andriods cut off their cords for some time.

Haru panted as the last door of an iron clad resistance fell flat into the ground.

This floor was far below where something sinester lurked. It was what Anna had deduced not only by the sewer's hold over her senses. She suspected a rap to appear in no time.

Ami swayed back and forth from the lack of sufficient sunlight. With Amaterasu-Hime housing her presence within the girl, Amelia's role as a secondary relic had been let loose out into this world. The dragon must have warned his comrades earlier into the hunt. Aiden was only the first to break by his powers over the unforeseen. Now,he had anther chosen to dismiss from the great divide. She was not soo easy however to conquer as her siblings..

Ami muttered something incomprehensible as Anna bit her lip , promising herself to stay as calm as she could even with her sister...a walking zombie...

"Are we close yet, Kaede?" Anna hoarsely asked . She gulped and hoped that the fox would not take offense to her 'American informalities.' The fox with purple strands in her snow white hair looked over her shoulder to answer . She did not seem angry, so Anna relaxed her grip. Of course, the foxes had not been born yesterday! Ami was the kitsunes' charge..How could she have missed that important tip?

~We should be close to the main source of this 'king's' catastrophic ploy.~ The fox finally responded. Kaede was a real soldier by both her agility and quick wit.

Her healing magic was not as powerful however as her younger sister's. Haru had always practiced while her magic had even won the attention of the twin's parents. In the spirit world, before Amaterasu had asked the pair to rise up a rank to aide in the Chosen's events, the kits had been reluctant. That was, until they had met the young savior in her grade school attire that one spring morning. The kids had grown up , but Ami had still been a pre-school age tot. Ava must have remembered staying in Japan where the final battle between a super- villain and the kids' father had been ...Why did she remember it tha

"Ami isn't doing so well..What are we su-

~You promised for Ami-san's sake. ~ Kaede reminded the red headed twin. ~She needs your guidance, should our worlds fall to chaos once more.~

"I...Don't think she can go through with what your Hime-

~We are nearly to the next block.~ Haru interrupted the teen. The four stood by another massive , locked down border-wall. A space that was supposed to stay just as it proclaimed at its height.

Off -limits.

~The mad inu has made a mockery of the arts. ~ Haru snipped as she walked over to the doorway. Her hands readying full of power.

Anna blinked, thinking that Haru had been...

The red head swapped glances with Kaede who narrowed her eyes towards the 'sister' of her own bloodline. The fox coughed, which had Haru turn round to see a fist coming right for her.

The watery sewers swallowed up the drowned cat as her form revert to that of a con artist in motion; Roko had regained her composure to come after-

~Ami-san!~ Kaede rushed after the youngest girl as Ami's eyes turned dark, lifeless and glassy. In moments, the girl then fell. Her ebony strands were again loosened as the waters carried both she and the cackling demoness down into a rushing whirlpool.

Another illusion had been born, to keep the group inside the complex - to allow Roku his due and Roko her win.

~You thought I was that easy to tame? This girl is going to be absorbed by our lord! You'll never see her again! Aahahahahahaaa!~ The cackling witch was swept up as Kaede jumped without stopping to take a breath. Her lungs were tainted and she had yet to allow the earlier attack its rest. Her body burned intensely as the fire in her heart swelled , bubbling up as a spring from the cauldrons of old.

Her body, her tails...Her fate had changed. The waters parted .A terrible swaying swept Roko up to see the Kyubi in her fullest light. She had now sprouted a set of nine tails. Kaede had reached the heavens' code. She was now a guardian goddess in the dark of the dankest tunnel. Roko roared as she could not combat the great spirit's powers much longer. The daemon dopple let loose her control, dropping Haru into those cold waters as the spirit evaporated to return to her own dying body, possibly flights up from the lower level of Takahara's massive headquarters.

Haru was left unconscious as Kaede caught her poor sister in a single-handed dive for the kit's torso . The two landed feet away from the murky stench as the edge of the sewer wall was their only comfort. Haru opened her eyes and groaned, she smiled up to her sister as if she had exhausted all of her strength this early on. ~I..am proud of you...My sister...Onee..san...~

Kaede revert to her lower spirit form and hugged her sorrowful twin with tears in her silvery eyes. Her ears drooped to display her pain, her anguish showered the room with a gloomy backdrop only artists knee how to portay. Ami and Anna were safe. Haru was going to be alright..

Anna had been able to catch Amelia once Kaede had transformed...Yet..

With all that had happened, Anna wasn't sure she could let her sister go through with the mission. As the two kitsune recooperated, Anna didn't wait. She grabbed Ami and held her tightly as she fled. This Hime had some nerve! Ami was dying and she had no clue that most mortals usually could snap like twig branches. Anna grunted as she huffed and puffed, running furiously now with Ami's self simply having gone completely limp. Anna gasped and started to breathe even harder. She found the air growing thick around her ...No..No!

~You brought me a sacrifice?~ The girl whom they had been warned about ..She was back! Anna skiddee to a halt and found thather crossroads had vanished to reveal an endless dark corridor.

Anna looked up then down with a shout. A miasma stream was covering her legs, pulling the two sisters down into utter and complete darkness. ~I will be waiting to snatch that light from your tired arms...Young Fire bird...~ The voice echoed , lulling the red head out of her secure space. She was way twisted..this voice..Anna snarled and was enraged by the dirty act. Her ..her power wasn't working! Why ? Why was she...

"Ugh.." Anna almost fell to one knee yet resisted..That feeling waslike a sleepless headache. She had...

"Uugh... " The teen groaned as her head starte to spin in a whirligig motion.

She...was..gett..getting..weaker now...her eyes..they could not...stay...

The red head floated now into an infinite dark void as the creatin, the dark witch Lady Amelia appeared with a chuckle, grinning at her enemy's sorry state .

She had won so far... With a wrist so close to the scent of her opposing side's face, Amelia had only to gloat before her task was complete.

~Ah, my opposi-

~Ach!~ The dopple retracted her arm with a sharp gasp. _~You!?~_

Lady Amelia revealed herself to the enemy as she'd tried to find the other sun child's cheek- only to be scalded by a strand of flames. Anna growled and looked up with blood shot eyes. She was tired..but.. only having just caught her attacker off guard, this would not bide well for the imposter...

~I...Am not...pant..*..Letting you take her!~ Anna's eyes were red as embers to a growing blaze as she cried out in a rebellious voice.

And still those eyes grew hotter, and hotter still, as her body soon turned by a new power. She looked like a real human torch with a Tameranean appearance..Her eyes were glowing just as her mother's did. As Aiden's could if he were just as brave.. A real weapon of mass destruction. Anna cried out and sent a wave to dash the brilliant darkly clad dopple's plans. Her fire, her sunlight!

The double gasped while recovering from the blast. She blinked and found another surprise before her owgyn eyes.

There in the form of her sole, opposite self, was a mini hoddess of the solar sect unbound. Ami had realized her destiny.

~The power, of the rising sun...~ The voice of not only Ami, yet Amaterasu's overlapped as both souls were as one entity.

The light child and ebony girl's eyes opened, yet she did not let them show much emotion. Her pained body was hidden beneath a red and orange traditional kimono that draped softly over her figure as fine silk often did for royalty.

The girl's hair was again freed as a hairpin from it reformed into a splendid silvery mirror. Ami held the mirror as it came to her aide. The relic which would trap the unkind self was now full of mystic energy to combat her greatest adversary . The final fight had just begun. Anna shouted out a battle cry that drove even the tired foxes to prick up their ears and to come running without haste.

~Tokyo SUNRISE!~ A fire so hot and bright lit up the tunnel. Ami held up the powerful mirror above her head as Anna used her fire- light to enforce her mini-goddess sister's decree. She allowed it to grow and the one staring out of the mirror, was none other than the future Amy , the child prodigy who could save the world once more.

~MEGAMI NO KAGAMI NO HANSHA NO NAKA DE EIEN NI (typo here) KURAI DOPPERUGENGA O FUIN SHITE KUDASAI! DAKARA SORE WA OKONAWA RERUDESHOU! [Translated to best of my abilities; Seal the dark doppleganger forever within the reflection of the goddess's mirror! So it shall be done!]

The dopple howled out as the mirror dragged her into its glassy reflection. The light that emit from it was of pure light. It was no wonder why those demon hated the sun! They were not always able to take the heat. Amy of the future had done her part, the younger Ami stilled with a sharpgasp as if something had started aching inside her chest. Anna saw instead that the mirror was going inside her sister! She called out over the loudest ringing in her ears.

~AMI! You!-

Ami looked up to her sister and slowly spoke with the voice of her future self. She was the same, they were all within her...Anna...then!

~It's ok..now...I..am safe...~ Her sighing , wafting breadthes left Anna to fall to tears as she felt again so guilty. Guilty that she had made Ami feel like she was a burden, liar...She was too special to stay mad at..

~Agh!~ Anna let her power dissipate(typo) as she wrenched herself free from the Phoenix's nearly - finalized gift. Ami didn't have time to protest as the red head rushed in to hug the tween as tightly as she could. She bawled like a baby as Ami just petted her sister's scalp, humming that silly lullaby that no one could place..That calming aura..she was not the same ..An entirely different soul was cooing to her...A soul she would one day recognise as her sibling...But..As a goddess's vessel?

~I will soon allow Ami to return to you. She was healing her heart within a shell even I could not hope to break completely..~

~Am..Amaterasu?..~ Anna sniffled. ~Y-You were still here? All this time I-

The dak haired deity was seen through the girl's eyes. Her hair much linger by the goddess's power over the thirteen year old mortal bound. Amaterasu(Ami) shook her head and softly spoke through the speak. ~The Ami of that time, will be ready to take the role I hope to see her live through to. You are a very brave warrior. Please protect and teach this child how to secure her own life in her own hands. I will never be far from your side...~

~Thank...Thank..you...But Ami!-

 _~Ugh...~Anna_ felt her eyes start to droop. Amaterasu smiled as she smoothed back her charge's sister's hair with a soft set of fingers. Her touch was both of grace and charm. Her powers however had Anna worried for her sister's well being..Ami was so..powerful too...Amaterasu..wanted her kept safe...as a vessel...a form of life ...

~Shizukesa, ima nemurimasu...~ Amaterasu spoke in her native tongue to the teen of a western Earth. ~Hush, sleep now child..~ Anna was afraid for her sister. Amaterasu had never felt the same as she did for this exact soul of one child. A girl whom she could trust to learn from her mistakes.

The room returned as the miasma was blasted back, defeated as its master somewhere in the next dimension. With a spark, Ami was released from her daydream state. She looked up with groggy eyes , then down as she saw Anna sprawled across her lap like the girl had...She had to keep this private no longer. Ami frowned. She petted Anna's skull as the lder teen muttered something in her psychic sleeping state. "I don't want to stap fighting , sis." Ami said this softly with her eyes looking back at her sister's closed ones.

"Everyone needs me..I..Kind of knew all along that we wouldn't stay the same forever...Mom and dad..They used to be Titans, ya know?" Ami sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her long sleeve. The kimono had revert to that of her trainee uniform, as a child of the sun goddess's solar sect . Ami continued with a groan. "We can't stay kids forever! Aiden forgets but...We have a job to do. And, you are stronger than you know- I believe in that...So please...Just know I don't hate you..I love my family, you too, Annie!-

~Ami-san!~ Haru shot around the corner as the ebony child looked up. She had tears dried against her cheeks..Ones that she had reserved for a heartfelt confession like this one.

~The young charge of our dearest Lady Amaterasu is safe, sister! ~ Haru called back over to her elder sister. Kaede smiled back with a fox's tooth protruding from her mouth. ~At least Amaterasu hadn't bothered abandoned her good soldiers. ~ The fox inwardly sniffed to this attitude. Her older self might have thought her own skepticism a realistic take on the world around her here on the present Earthen plane. Yet this one enlightened fox, standing triumphantly by her charges, was satisfied . She had decided to undergo the journey, fox and human could make a difference. Anaterasu had always put her trust in her greatest vassals to date.

/

Roku sauntered about the room, collectively seeking , seeking out the boy who was yet to perish. Lia turned a palour which left her persona to be revealed, if ever Aiden had been the only wandering soul to see her in this light- Roku was the only face in that room, with a peculiar boy with similar features to a 'Richard Ainsley.' It slowly clicked and Aiden bolted from Lia's ongoing protection. His blade emerged as a dagger, reading itself to clip the devil's wings in two.

Roku evaded the male with a wave of his mystic cloak. Dark, red spiders crawled out from man's coat as they rushed to scare poor Lia to her death.

~Do not temp me, I would be happy to bring you back - alive, alive to our time!-

"Earth won't have anything to do with you! You have to get a grip!" Aiden slid across the floor with the feet of a dancer- something he assumed was possible within the Ethereal realm in the past. "I am not going to be a puppet to a sad king! You need to let this dumb dream go! Right now!"

Roku laughed as he set the spiders free, they turned to burning cinders just before they could collect around Lia's small feet.

She _zzapped_ them away with her magic, yet the spiders were already set to their demise. She winced by the tickle of those ruby cinders as the rest fell to dust..Lina looked up, shaken though safe. For now, Roku was far from through with his pursuers.

 **"Hahh!"** Aiden swat at the king's arm as he deflected another blow. This time the king used his gloved hand to catch the blade. It made his blood soak through the heavy material. His blood by lore was toxic as fumes filled the teen hero's nostrils. Aiden let the blade go and couldn't stop coughing. Roku landed his other palm onto Aiden's skull to still the teen's bouts. With a few more raspy sounds, Aiden strained to look up right into the king's eyes. Then, he wished he'd not just- anyone who did was bound to sell themselves, body and spirit to the masterful tyrant.

"I...can see...this _isn't!-_

Aiden's head was konked with a swift hit by the king's other free hand.

Kneeling no longer, yet lying with his palms splayed at either side, Aiden gasped for this miserable dream to be over. Roku looked at his enemy coldly, hoping that he'd learn to know the king's boundries eventually. Even as a fallen puppet..The stage fell again, the scene played on as Lia's looked on. Her eyes saw the boy called Richard as he was teased by his older classmates. The child now resided with a snap of the king's fingers, in a library that housed a special, book . Not just any book as the boy quickly spun round to leave with the bound thing clutched to his chest.

Aiden heaved as he breathed, his nose bloodied from this king's incredible strength. Here, even as a ghost Roku was still a vicious opponent to upsurp.

~The child ran out into the streets, thinking that he'd be returning to his room that night."

Roku's voice narrarated (typo?) the sketch together as webs were spun and woven round the past's earlier scenerios. "He came to find me, I told him what that book was. I explained how he could use it to free himself from that life...Then, the streets were full and crowded with -

"That's _wrong!"_ Lia suddenly shouted as the flashback paused by Roku's upturned wrist. "That is not the whole story! Speak the truth for if!-

 **"SILENCE!"** Roku roared while Lia had just pulled up a barrier around herself. "Let...The boy go _free."_

Her tone was filled with more hatred than Roku had known the witch to show during their long history.

"I..." Aiden sputtered out a bit of blood from his swollen cheek. Roku just glared back, his hatred growing with each sound of the children's protests. "I...Am not...that...I..am..A..Aiden..." He coughed. Lia looked down at the fallen Chosen as if she'd just been stricken with a violent surge. "Then...he is not lying? Why must you let this coward have his way with our world!? Your world is back, somewhere else! " She let her hand fall to her side, her right finger pointed to show that she meant every word..

Roku was not going to win with his lies.

"This one is surely not ready to be as it was, we are bound to change. Yet this character...he will never listen to good reason! " Lia brought her powerful magic to manifest..Her ears were more apparant as her eyes shown a purple and amber. That, was not something that Aiden had not expected. Yet Roku scoffed and only wished to raise the curtain again. "You'll have your chance to do away with me later, boy." The king said with deep chuckle. "Just as soon as you've saved my latest victim before he's swallowed whole!"

The past reemmerged as Richard again appeared in the streets. Those streets were grey, old and chilly as his eyes, the boy's eyes met face to face with a devil in maroon shades. ~He and I, were on the same page I had believed..His classmates suffered for their insolence.~ The scene of a bloodied classroom had Aiden cringing. He could even SMELL the student's, their blood..!

Lia walked carefully across the border where the king had Aiden pinned within the anti-god's memories. ~I was lucky to have pulled his thoughts away- for once..my victory was assured. Until...A faire woman did the unthinkable- her words broke my hold over that victim!-

"That!...T..That...Wa...was...-

~How will you **defeat** me now?~ Roku hissed as Aiden lay cowering under this king's heavy boot..His ears were ringing...he could here..sirens...that..was it!

~You would ...h..have..saved... ...y..you..c...cared-

 _"Really?!"_ Roku was astounded by this child as the boy felt now like a fifty pound weight had been lifted from his back. Aiden breathed out a forced sigh from his beaten lungs. Roku had been leaning into his spine- his influence had almost created a crater in the floor! Impossible...

"If I did wait say...until next that my son were to BE reincarnated, would it certainly hold the same meaning as the previous? Humm? The answer; He was a tool to me, so no. I would just-

"Lies..." Aiden coughed and tried to sit up. _"H..he...was...y..you!-_

"Boy, you are trying to serve a loathsome purpose that is _far_ to bothersome for me to counter at this point-

Roku brought his hands up again, leaving Aiden to fall onto his face once more- at his mercy. "I won't say another word if...You watch the rest of my memories whilst you lay there. Deal?" The king saw as Aiden nodded, Lia screamed out that it was a false attitude. It was wrong in her eyes and always was by a demon's standards. She couldn't protect him..Just as he had failed to save the young boy before..

~The test was over, a war had begun.~ The scene changed to show a bombarded city with holes cut through it like swiss cheese..La gasped and fell to her knees, reliving the time in her mind oh-so clearly. She had the scent of soot and debris on her clothes. The boy though, his scent was of another's influence.

Marching away into the city was a crew willing to help the fallen. Crumbling statues toppled over as the toll rosse higher and higher into the smokey atmosphere. Roku was there as the boy looked around him. His body was trapped for an eternity of suffering that this world had been bound for. He wasn't ready to join them..but..that girl had said to avoid the creature which proded his every emotion. It was not ugly, yet suspiciously, he had some sort of connection to the ragged elder. Richard turned to meet the king's eyes with tears in his own two blue. He shook his head, slowly stunned and pained terribly by the sight he'd walked in to meet.

"Why is my life not the same?" The ebony child asked his demonic shadow. Roku spoke not a word as he awaited the child's strained response. "Is there nothing I can do to save them? My family is gone! I..my powers , that book told of such things!" Richard realized a way out as Roku's eyes lit up, hoping the boy would continue to spill his desires out to his old keeper.

"If I try harder...I can save this-

"It is not our home...You should let it go forever." Aiden watched as Roku pulled a 'Luke, I am your father' on the shocked school child. The blonde growled while the real Roku just told the rest of the story to meet his own needs.

The king leaned over towards Aiden's ear to whisper only to he; "Even your father has not seen the images that I have shown to you. Be grateful that I have spared your siblings' lives. I will show mercy to you as well...now let us continue-

"I...won't let you...get..away...scott..f..free...with..out...repen..ting..." Aiden breathed out. Roku ignored the teen and returned to the flashback. The best part was about to happen. An ultimate betrayal. HIS favorite kind of deviant outcomes to arise...

/

Roko dragged herself through one doorway, then another as she could have sworn a few voices were rather close...Was it those pretty as all heck deity? She had barely left them standing so tall, before!

~No..wait..~ Roko listened in as the older group's enemy? Oh! Roko's cat smile returned as she slunk round in her shadowy apparel to track down a few of the maze's occupants.

Lisa Viscado had stayed close to Zan and the real Henry and Glen, who had reunited under mysterious circumstances. Well, the cat was out of the bag as Aiden's ride to neverland had left the group and Damian Wayne, paralyzed with Charl cackling away at their misery.

~Oh ohh! He fell into HIS trap! You lose! My king will lap him up, gobbling up last essence of boy's light! You are all doomed! **Mahahahahaa!~**

"Don't try to act like a real pain now, imp !" Damian snarled with his finger pointed at the demon's projected cage. Zan looked tired. "I'm sick of being a chump to you!" They could not keep the ex-knight inside his prison forever- not while the rest of Robin's team was elsewhere in the world..or worlds!

"Don't temp him, dummy.." Zam grunted and strengthened her hold. They had gotten the imp back in his cage, but the runt was still getting on her nerves now more than before. The ghoulish spooks had vanished with only the room underground as a guide into the very last destination, where our heroes were now expected to find a missing clue within the last place that the demon entity had been summoned to life in..

"Controls are busted." Lisa looked over the panel and shook her head. "Aiden has gotta be way far from god knows where..He..Was not ok.."

"He was being attacked psychically." Glen grunted . "The boy did best it all better than I did, Henry had to drag me home from the king's abyss...He had my will power under lock und' key." The half giant snorted, thinking the dragon had been at his best so far. The Titans were onto him now. They knew what had to be done..At least, separately.(typo)

"Don' be such a spoil sport, Glennie!" Henry cheerily tried to shake his pal's shoulders from the gloom and doom he felt. "Well's all it be! Just you wait en' see!" The cheerful magician made the big luck chuckle by his sunny expression. "Glad you don't hate yer old pal. I was the one who did a number on your eg-

 _"Aha!"_ Zan gasped and watched as Dami had reactivated the controls. They sputtered to life as the whole space seemed to shift...Again?

"Demon alert!" Lisa shuted as her allies put up their imaginary shields. A troubling thing below might have been just as the solo artist put it. Yet that was beyond what the group had expected to pop out from below their feet.

 **"Ami!"** Henry cried out as the four were tossed up through cncrete and mass- their bodies floating by the twin kitsune's magic.

Ami giggled by their luck, her powers having come to full circle as Ann looked about with a start. "This isn't!-

 _"Whoa!"_ The four landed to the ground right where Dami , Lisa and Glen and Henry stood speechless, staring back as if time had frozen still.

"Are...Huh, this is a shocker?.." Henry didn't care about Anna's comment as he dashed up in his most kawaii form- just to how Ami how much he had missed her. (In the arc new destinations, Ami had been saved by Lady Hel's magic and Henry's sacrifice of half his power in the team's late adventure from within Ava's old home of the Snowy Barrens. Good arc, check it out too!)

The bunny ears of the adorably short student wizard poked out, despite his inability to summon thast form, Ami had become stronger..He felt his form change as the wise cracking rabbit made Ami's moyuthurve into a neverending grin.

"Usagi-kun!" She scooped up the spirit and proceded to coddle him as a pet. "Aww! We missed you too!-

~Ami-Chan!" Haru scolded with a whine in her voice. ~Th-that rabbit? Why do you hug it so close..So..easily? Amii!~ The kit squealed as it rushed over in its cutest fox form, growling for the imposter familiar to go far away.

~To the moon! Begone ugly creature!~

The animal in Haru did a good job as she batted the bunny's nose, not drawing blood though pissing lil' Henry off something fierce. "Hey! No teasing ! Haru! Dummy Henr!-

"We have gotta get out of here, sis." Anna tapped her youngest sibling's shoulder blade as the three figures understood by Annie Grayson's determination. "Ookay...No more fox chases for us!" Ami put up her hands as if to shrug off the rest cutely. "Too bad, Haru. " The girl smirked as Haru's white fur turned sakura pink in embarrassment.

Henry fell onto his bunny tailand giggled while pointing at poor Haru. "Show's over!-

~I wasn't playing games, Miss Ami!~ The fox spit as Henry tried to crawl away in his bunny body. "I was an innocent here! I'm not the imp over there!?" He pointed at the cage holdimg a yawning Charl. Charl in man's skin again?

"Oh, great!" The bunny bounced back over to Anna despitethe fox's daggers for eyes at his backside.. The pretty boy brunette was up to his old tricks. Anna recovered her staff and pointed it at the cage. "How ya' been cooped up, chicken?"

Ami giggled by the corny joke. "Haha! Punny, sister!" Anna rolled her eyes then redirected them towardsthe sphere that Zan still had some control over. "Still think you are that smart, mon cherie?" He asked with a raised brow. His blue trimmed garb as gaudy as his wavy locks. "No, I think we put you away so far. Want me to do the honors of sending him to the center of nowhere - ville?" She asked her allies with a devious smirk.

"Oh ho! You really are the brains of this, operation...I thought for sure that it was the witch's heart I was going to steal-

"Not a soul stealin' liar, bub." Glen replied.

The brunette imp figure threw his head back with a soft laugh. "And the giant is your brawn, I see? Non, non, you deserve a better way to go!" The imp's tail twisted out to lash out at the glass trap that had him in place. Ami jumped and gasped out as Kaede saw it as well. The imp's tail was like a pointed blade..It was chipping away at the magic bubble's walls.

"Zan! Don't !-

 **"Agh!"** The group was tossed back as the bubble burst. Charl laughed by his victory so far, eyeing Haru as she had stayed afloat beside her charges.

"You would do damage in that form to us-

"I was waiting for you to lay that comeback out!" The imp cackled as his eyes lit up, his wings unfolded. He was, a demon!

"Stay there, demonic spirit!" Kaede jumped in with her tails as fire,they scorched the demon as he jolted away. His eyes turned to slits. Full of rage as Kaede dove in a second time. ~Moon's bow!~ The range was warped as a veil left the demon to figure out-

~Fox's _trance!~_ Kaede burst forth from the make shift shroud and pushed. Her tails dug into Charl's wings as he screeched out. **~Yaah!** You beastly, _**thing!~**_ He snarled and tried to lose her in the air. Ami shot off a beam of brilliant sunlight as the demonic imp shielded its eyes. ~Aagh! Dirty..Light! I am unclean!-

The demon toppled over, clumsily hitting the wall, then crashed to the floor as the ground split two pieces. Dami grabbed Zan as she looked about ready to keel over. Lisa went with Henry as he stuck to the solo idol for suppirt in his bunny form. Ami stayed by Anna, Kaede and Haru. Glen jumped out and saw something in the corner...another door!

"Secret entrance thatta' ways!" He pointed, confident that it would lead the team to their destination this time. The heroes united and caught the ledge before Charl had collapsed straight into the sewers. He was already just as filthy as his attitude had been.

 **~Aaagghh!** I REQUIRE **_AIDE!~_** They had believed that it was impossible or someone to arrive before the floor's cave in- yet Haru remembered that Roko and strayed from their path and was currently a rat in the walls of Shoji's fine establishment. Ami called out, yet the fox was not one to wait last minute when it came to banishing a foe or ten.

~I will see that he is brought to the spirit council's halls. Whence I have made my point clearest ,I shall locate your allies in Italy. ~ Haru smiled back as Ami bobbed her head,knowing that Haru was a true friend to the end always.

The foxes split- Kaede loked back to her dompanion as she stayed beside Miss Ami Grayson. Anna looked to the next door without hesitation as Robin took to leading the group away from the oncoming disaster that surrounded them.

Charl had been close, hs winged form felt a twinge of pressure as the deviant Roko heeded his call to action. ~I wasn't busy enough!~ She frowned as the imp seemed too caught up in his fantasy to care. ~We must sop them, but my magic is not enough.~ The imp sniffed. ~Tres Bon indeed!~

~Then let me give you the energy to tackle this task to its knees. All I ask is that you leave the sun child tome, do not let her come to any harm. Even accidental- even if that is not caused by your tomfoolery!~ Roko warned before vanishing. Charl let out a growl and his wings felt lighter somewhat. He laughed and awaited a draft his body upwards. ~I will have my revenge twic in one era! What good fortune!~

Roko clicked her tongue and rushed off to meet another. Marcus was still the demon's prisoner. Aiden still had to tackle his own task at hand in another time, another place...

/

Hecate startled herself as an image appeared where should not have. Alue was first to receive the image via through a psychic connection in the void. Italy was finally nearly back to normal, save for the last demons to be beaten. Cecilia had outdone herself with her magic mightier even than her predecessor's. Aluehainyu had to admit it, but this fun was not bound to last. She tapped a now recovered Esme on the shoulder as the youngest yawned by the daemoness's timing. "Are we in the clear yet?" Interrupted the diva,as her crew had been packing away their equiptment. All but Cecilia as she kept strong to her word. She wanted to sing, this event was her big return , she had them all-

~Enough now!~ Al gripped Cici as he was tugged harshly away from her screaming fans. "But we had one last!-

"She's ..Um! We...have to , go . Yeah! " Cliff bobbed his head, trying to stay on Cici's good side. Vengeful deity vassals were...well, fickle by nature.

"I'll say the rest." Alue spoke up as Clifford stepped away from Miss Daia's glowing eyes. "Well, then spill it all, haven't got all month to wonder." Cici sniffed back impatiently.

Cliff rolled his eyes. "Alright then, majesty." He commented while Esme shook her head in annoyance. It was mostly from her own inner desires to pull Cici away from Clifford. Cecilia was a witch, whether or not light and dark magics implied anything,. She was a dangerous being who had formed a lasting bond with the ancient Widow's coven.

"The door's closing! C'mon! " Cliff turned back to see his sister's eyes. For once they had never looked so frightened of what lay beyond that doorway.

/

Alright, getting over another bad cold, last one was stomach related so not keeping up? Sorta. Weeell, the heroes are still in three separate locations;

Gar, Cy, and Cici, Aluehainyu, and Cliff plus Esme means a good team effort in San Remo.

Richard, Kori Verra, Kay, Raven, Agatha, Vespa, Kaien are going to Japan via a portal from the last destination(s.)

Lisa, Henry, Ami, Glen, Kaede, Haru, Damian (Robin) , Zatanna, and Chas who escaped again, are in Takahara corp's basement of the man's headquarter / labs.

Aiden, Lia, Roku, and Richard Ainsley's numerous reincarnated seles are in the past time stream that Roku has repairedin order to leave Aiden defenseless. Aiden is pushing to unlock something that Roku won't show anyone. Why he left his god hood rites behind, hw he isnotashe appears to our heroes despite Robin having thought the demon unbreakable. What is he trying to prove?

Lastly, Ronald was sent hurtling back to where Sayumn reigns on Earth. Despite Roku thinking he's banished the fox elsewhere, the jury is out.

Ah, not to forget; Charl is now back with Roko keeping an eye on her lord's lower level cronies. Lao Ming was defeated by Lady Amelia who was sealed back within Ami as her shadow self by Amaterasu's magic relic. The mirror reflects everything, a doorway into the minds and hearts of those who dare to glipse into its reflective surface..Ami is the sole keeper of such rites so she naturally is being protected by Haru and Kaede, seeing as she may become Amterasu's earthen born Vassal.

Aiden's uphill battle is that Roku is deliberately trying to be the bad guy to get Aiden to give up on having the dragon repent forhis wrong doings. Yet Aiden has time he believes to prove the earlier generations wrong. Why is Lia a threat to Roku? Her last timeline was in fact as Bethel Ferguson's/ aka Veronica Bethel's from previous arcs, little sister. She was also able to find a tutor in the one called Baphomet in order to save her sibling from Lilu's clutches. Though Lilu toppled the daemon's hold over her powers, he left his mark and had made Lia a sorceress full fledged in the process with another soul to her. She was made immortal but that'll be explained later. The only way would be if...She had died first?...Owch, ok!

So, our heroes are in a pickle. What's next for chapter 21 ? Read on to find out and stay curious!


	22. Chapter 22

Teen Titans New Generations; Storyteller Arc - The Manifesto Pages Part Two; Chapter 21: To The Other Side - Turning Back The Clocks .

Aiden had seen enough of this time line. It crumbled to rubble before his eyes as Roku enjoyed the scenario a second era- thoroughly emmersed in his fantastic state of being. He was a god of space-time in his own mind. Roku was the anti - hero which had pinned the 'hero' of those pages to stay at his knees. Aiden was nothing more than entertainment if the dragon got his wish. That, or a snack for the king to feast upon while in his unearthly form.

Aiden crouched down while Lia forced her way past the obstructive barrier that had the two rooms separated. Lisa knew of the old Roku's tricks in the past..He had harmed the boy, Richard who was only a pawn in this king's game. The events which had transpired could not be undone as Aiden was left to battle the fae girl's known adversary. Actually, Lilu was the worst of them all. Roku was her student as was Bethel in another time, though the strix made their futures her undertaking all the live while.

~My sister was not on your side!~ Lia said underneath her breath. Roku stayed perfectly still as his grin soon vanished. His eyes became clouded by hate, a deep hatred for both the witch and her apprentice. ~Lil wasn't my favorite teacher, so sad..~ The king yawned and turned his eyes towards the redheaded half-blood child. ~She was, just there before my dragon instincts could kick her out of our lives. That is why Veronica chose to work for her new king. She was still flawed, an imperfection Quite a shame really. ~ The king said this, sounding sympathetic, as well as mocking in his tone of voice. Lia flared up. Veronica was a fake! Bethel..Bethel was...

~Lilith was a cretin like you are. That hero is not from our time.~ Lia stated. ~ He , you are to close and that makes me somehow feel troubled. ~ She opened her palm up as a wand of glittering eather appeared from it. ~ I am not only as magical as my twin, I was in fact the one Lilu was after!-

~Wh-

~Aaagh!~ The room clouded with electrical currents. Roku felt the shock and fell to his knee with a grunt. His long black hair was matted by the added frizz from the surge. His eyes were consumed wholly by his deepest anger.

~You...Are dead!~ The king sent the floors round the faire child to collapse. Aiden screamed out aloud as the rest around them turned white as paper. The room was vanishing. ~Illuminate!~ Lia shouted at the top of her lungs as she floated down by her magical ways.

Aiden cried out but the light was a pathway, a vortex the turned this reality into a diatant yester-year.

While Roku relented no more than he had previously been expected to by the 'hero' of this story, Aiden made his way out of that world. He looked back over his shoulder as Lia vanished with her butterfly wings carrying her to the afterlife.

~Home..I hope we'll make it that far...~ Aiden shut his eyes as Roku's screams turned to ringing throughout the space. The other male's voice was not old anymore. Aiden still, could hear something off..Wh...a sound that made the dragon look like a fool all along.

Aiden opened his eyes and saw that the dragon's form was as vapors, his body was smaller and crying out with crocodile tears rushing past his young cheeks.

~I don't want to go yet! No! Don't take me back! Please!~ Aiden wondered if the boy with the dragon's features was real or just a vanishing figment as they leapt past the walls of time space at lightening speed.

~A-...~ The boy looked over to the blonde male and croaked before that face returned of the drragon's adult form.

~ You saw..~ The king rasped. His breathing was rapid as the male's chest heaved heavily from the scare.

~A' is trying to test your theory over mine. Always we fight...~ The king sighed and swept back his hair with a groan.

~Then we have to see the end out. ~ Aiden nodded as the next doorway appeared before the males' faces.

Roku courteously swept his arm out to usher the blonde ahead first. With the grin of a saint, he looked dangerously prepared to kill off Aiden's plans for good.

~After you.~

Roku looked to the teen with his eyes slightly narrowed the god's way. ~ Fair is fair. ~ Aiden reminded the king as he swished on ahead through the foggy space in time.

Roku nodded with a shrug and followed right behind. ~ All's fair in love and war- family cannot be sacrificed without a gain to be had. ~

~You would , your family trusted you-

~I had only pursuers of my power. ~ The king corrected, feeling his nerves twitch a bit by the lone comment.

~You would only have felt it neccessary to run and hide from those greedy deity . The dragons? The guardian dogs are in another way, just testing your kind. ~

~Let them.~ Aiden replied. ~Verra tried to hold up a business but karma's a real hag. They still are as miserable as humans, so I say let bygones be-

~Would you say that to your father and mother?~ Roku asked from out of nowhere as the winding path continued .

Aiden paused. Roku wasn't..trying to pull his leg, or at least he was decently not hiding the fact that he wanted to make it pop of right then and there. ~No deal.~ Roku raised an eye as Aiden made his point clear to the disembodied spook.

~Mom is an alien with royal blood or, something. Dad is the ward to a filthly rich corporate giant in another city..Umm, yeah...I think you envy humans waay too much. That's how I see it..Eh, looks like curiousity got you-

~I would rather bury that hatchet, mind if you put your words away a bit? We have arrived.~ Roku pointed to the swirling vortex that hopefully was for 'team Earth. '

~After you.~ Aiden returned the favor as his arm waved out to have the king step through first. ~ Witty, brat.~ The king snorted and tossed his cloak tightly round his firm shoulders.

~ Keep that attitude of your's up and that spot as my puppet is your's to own...Why don't we start over, before I've seen this through?..~ The god wasn't joking as he shot off through the spinning traverse. Aiden was in right after as soon as the stream had changed course. Another deity would have thought this method to have been too advanced for any old world gods. Yet A' was a true guiding force from behind the scenes. She knew how to write a mean script, for sure!

/

Ami was confused to some degree..Amaterasu had given her powers that any kid would have thought the best gift ever- but Ami had to give up something in return. While Anna was happy for her sister having woken from a long daydream, Ami fretted over what even her loyal fox allies had no clue had transpired between the sun goddess and the youngest Grayson child.

~It would be too sad to say anything yet..~ Ami sighed as the group headed after a doorway that would lead them to where their enemy would be lying in wait for more worthy opponents. (typo?)

Roko had indeed kept Marcus in his lying state as her lord had wished. All of those round about joy rides through space time were to drain Aiden ofhis light for awhile, just so that the king could work his magic by Roko's secondary cursed ability. Her powers and his own were linked. Roko after all was the aspect of Raku's self from the Forbidden myth- the more embarrassing side , however .

~That story is dead and buried for a reason. ~ The daemon girl scoffed. ~ I wasn't alive then to him as I am now...~ She lickedher lips and opened the container that held a comatose Marcus inside its chrome walls. ~ It was a good thing I had been able to raid Shoji's basement for the proper equiptment to see to my king's task.~ She whiped an arm across her brow and sighed. ~ You'll be no moeethan this container..A lovely vessel for darkness to exist ...Yet that would be a bit redundant?~ Roko asked herself if this was no more than a replication of the Hakuro/ Rokou fiasco, though she shrugged the thought back before shutting the chrome cell back up again. ~ He may be as he wishes.~ She reminded herself that her lord was too powerful to question, not while she desired life as it was.

Roko turned and looked up to view the exact time in the human world via a grey,ugly digital clock against an even more dull background . Science was a bland topic without a pinch of magic to spice things up a bit. ~ Ah, where would that cat be without his lovely alchemy? Digging through dumpsters?~ She chuckled though knew the fact was untrue. Veravakumu was of royal blood that he sometimes loathed greatly. ~ Yet he has never been fully corrupted, not even in death.~ Roko wondered what that meant,though recalled a time when Roku's rule had been absolute. The dragon had his heir and powersource while Verra had sold himself qway to save the last Ainsley child from his begotten father. The cat had been forced as punishment to sip a brew called 'life wine.' The elixer was of the rememnent souls of those who had giventhemselves to the king.

Hopes, dreams, despair, rage, anguish, an emotionally unbalanced tonic for demons to feast upon for a modest price. A black market item, it was used for method of corruption as well. Any rebels were treated to the brew who dared to be caught by the king's army of generals and assassins. Richard Ainsley however had never been tainted since he had never been allowed to try the stuff. Roku too was immune to its effects. Verra had tried it and had relived his most painful waking hours , his head had however stayed intact. Perhaps the demon dog he used as a sheild prevented the exiled prince from having too much to drink on his first round.

Veronica too had never tasted the stuff. It was a golden amber liquid in which Roko had stayed away from as Rokuro the son's aspect and personal bodyguard. Then at the time, another tonic had been achieved. A 'Truth juice ' or the medeival verson of a truth serum. It was used on Richard countless times when he had lied about meeting with his old allies , the rebel good- doers..

Didn't most fairy tale heroics involve some, rebel alliances - born and forged to fight the dark lord over yonder? Roko thought this was so and turned to walk for the exit, she wanted to see if those allies had caught up in time to dismantle her king's plans.

~ I am safe for now, yet the veil will slip and the world here will be unmasked as a false one.~ She looked around the corner, out the door and..Thank-

~ Uh oh!~ Roko shut the door and gasped, keeping a hand over her lips as her breathing started at a hitch. ~ Those..hee..roes!..~ She seethed through the mind spoken tongue.

The portal had tossed the group from San Remo only inches from her door. Roko wanted to Lord Roku would be FURIOUS!

Richard Grayson as the talented Nightwing tumbled out of the spiralling trans dimensional rift as Raven, Kori, Vee, Kayu, Vespa and Kaien followed not far behind the ex - Titan's leader. Lastly, out popped a face that had Roko bite her lip from the tiny runt of a character..

~Are you ok, Aggie?~ Kay asked as he caught the youngest with both arms outstreatched. She blushed and asked to be set down, stating that her age would eventually change now that she had been stationed as a future guardian of the Earthen plane for a while. Hecate...Expected her to see this through as the myth had depicted long ago.

Roko grit her teeth as if her jaw would bust apart by the pressure. ~ Have to switch this dimension, I...I can't..! I have enough magic to run away, but-

~Azarath Metrion, Zinthos!~

Roko hiccupped* by the blasted empath's timing. She turned the room to be covered in smoke as it left the halls' sprinkler systems to activate. Thankfully in her case, the cell holding Marcus was not affected.

~Amelia failed..~ Roko realized as her eyes lit up from the discovery. ~That means... ~ The sheer feeling of a fleeting ecstacy had the daemoness drooling over the fact. ~ I'm still his!~ She felt her heart open wide as the idea was enthralling once more. With that brat out of her way, Roku would only have one decent queen. Oh, yes...She was entirely devoted to her demi- god turned relic.

With an unexected, animalistic side now her own, Roko decided not to hold back any longer. ~ Come in, Titans. Witness the death of your blasted Chosen for good!~ She felt her jaws ache for the hour meant to arrive- SHE WOULD BE THE ONE...TO DESTROY THE EARTHEN TITANS...For good!

Esme and Cliff were better off beside their own in San Remo.. yet what about Ron, Verra and Kaien? The question had only dawned on one other as she walked alone in the twighlight with her personal phone to her ear. An important call from her ...Was Cecilia alright? Yes, Yumi was hoping to connect with Tsani, even if she dreaded the idea- but Rome was where the damned relics were stationed? Just her luck! Now they had fled off to Shinjuku in Japan!

The phone rang three more times before someone had taken notice. Miss Daia turned on the charm, hoping not to scare-

~Hello? ~ The daemoness of ice and the moon elemental , Yumi, was on that other end. Oh boy...Catalina sighed and wondered about what her next lot in life would be. She gulped and composed herself, Yumi was a high priestess . She had to act a bit more dignified than this..right?

" Hello? I must speak with -

~ He is in a , rather difficult location to recieve any outward calls. ( cliche point made.) ~ Catalina Daia bit her own lip , knowing the Yumi could only guess who that lucky visitor was.

" Then patch me through or YOU'LL just have to answer the question. "

Yumi huffed, unafraid to cause a minor bit of tension between the factions of water and ice. She decided that Cathy diid deserve a fair explaination..hopefully.

~ I can! I can! Ah...Just, keep you voice down..please? ~ Yumi on the other hand, hated confrontation. In past stories, she had been subdued by corrupt forces, corrupted by her spirit realm traverses in the process..She had hated herself then, yet Tsani was nearly ready as a deity of Hope. ( RIP AS OF ARC 7-8?)

Her liberties after that were to study until her arms ached each hour , every night was another test. Now, she had been let go of that heavy burden. Tsani was fairly blessed by her lineage Yumi however was on Earth as the director's connection under the producing giant reccord label located in Shoji's town. The main headquarters was located close by. While it already had fifteen countries world wide by location, it had continued to grow ( thanks to Aria's business deals...And grow still, it did.

"Andrea Grotto then won't answer? Then tell me. Was Solario or Cici nearby in your Rome Lo-

~ I have no answers yet from our comrades, madame.~ Yumi accidentally blurted before clearing her throat to reply. ~ No, Solario was by the main city ...Yet he left only days ago to aid the Chosen. I think to a place called San- Remo, no longer have we considered this to be the case, I do understand that much. ...~ Catherine bit her lip as Yumi let the intel sink in. She had a job to do, but she wasn't going at it alone.

" Who were his companions? His relatives? Any sign of ...What of that one..Vespa?" She asked the ice sorceress for the moment. Yumi tried to think back, yet the only face to her would have been..

Aha!

~ Go to San Remo as soon as you can.~ Yumi ended the call with a click. Catalina Daia was stood - Waait...was she being ordered around by an elemental princess!?

" Aah! I never have time off to care...!" Catalina shoved herself to her office and sat right down at her desk. Suddenly feelimg overly restless, she got back up and walked over to a window , the only one in her little room that she had a say in. Taking out her spellbook from a pocket in space time, flying would have been so medeival had this idea not come about so soon. ~ Doorway outwards! Doorway leading to my destination...Take me to...the place I wish...So shall it be!~

The book acted as a key, while the window the portal to her destination, as recited by the witch's own words spoken.

Catherine fell right into the vortex as it closed off once she had made impact, the window having revert to itself as if not a soul had dared attempt what she had just in mere miliseconds. /

Lastly,the duo Ava and Chris had been keeping an eye out for Marcus, though that had all gone up in smoke once the boy had vanshed while Chris's back had turned towards another, an intruder in their midsts as Ava readied her weapon with eyes as fridged realms unseen.

~ Chris! ~ She commanded of her noble spirit knight to attack,to defend his princess above all else-

~ Hold it!~ Astarte dove out from the hole that her team had carved into the realm unseen. Ava gasped , then sighed with a laugh and set down her blade to vanish . Ayane, Sara Santiago, Isa as Lady Isis herself! And, Aria too! Ah...And...Where was Tsukiyume?

~Are your friends close?~ Sara demanded an answer as Ava forced out an awkward reply. Chris's eyes narrowed in case it was a trick by the demon's cronie Roko. Ava spoke; " My brother and his allies are, they are separated, Shoji and Cecilia Daia said that coming here was-

~ Has she blinded us all so far?~ Aria groaned as the dutiful Sakurano Ayane have the daemon siren a harsh glare.

"What..do you mean?.." Chris interrupted , seeing as Ava was his charge for the known while. " What is going on back on earth right now?" Ava jumped back down the goddesses' throats. Her own was just as parched and pained from shouting so many numerous battle cries.

~ The witch was a faker. ~ Sara snorted and pulled out one of her sabers to polish it off as they discussed the details, hopefuy very quickly. ~ Then, it as just as Shoji would have never guessed?~ Ayane wondered. ~ He would have sensed!-

~ Then, who was her partner,acting from the shadows?~ Isa added while rubbing her chin in deep thought.

Sara sighed and took out her human made weapon, a gun made and designed to kill the undead souls they'd find likely here in Shoji's location. ~ We think , the dragon is making waves in astral space-

~ My bro...no! What about-

~ Your siblings are mostly accounted..for .~ Aria seethed at the last bit. ~ All but, for one lion- boy.~

Ava's eyes sunk as if this had ben a shock , never before had he been showing any signs of turning. Only the dragoncould do that much damage. He had done the same to Aiden, hder father Mr. Grayson, and...even her baby sister..That madman had too much ambition for one corrupted king to take seriously!

~ You lost sight of Marcus,in a sense,we know where his body guards are keeping him.~ Sara loaded her gun and set it back in its compartment,which had both Aria and Ayane to stick up their nonses by the deity's timing.

~ My you wave that...thing,around ? This very object may help us in the end...Such rude behavior. ~ Aria curled a wavy blue lock from atop her head then dove over tolean onto the startled Ayane's shoulders. ~Aiiyane-chan? We are not going to let this brute fool your relative! Why not make another way out, chariot, runner?~

Sara snorted again by the treatment. She was a soldier, she had to be ready at all times!

" Are you going then, should we come along ?" Chris asked as his form stayed for the longest time as a silvery haired knight in shining armor. Aria giggled by how Ava expected his protection even with a room of goddesses in her midst.

~ You'll have to. Nothing is left here to investigate. Just air.~ Isa nodded to Sara who tossed her head in the direction of their earlier crash landing doorway. Aria clung to Ayane,which had the sorceress reincarnate's stomach lurch by the added closeness. ~ In our country to the east you know, we do not keep this same distance. You'd be better to stand a yard from me, if you please-

~ No nostalgia?~ The goddess of the seas pouted as her rejection was to be expected always. Ayane shook her head and walked on right beside the startled Ava and her guard dog, Christopher. She, Aria of the air and southern is,es had betrayed Ayane's host Lorelai, by that attempt to take out her flesh and blood in the far past.. It was understood that te new witch needed her space and poor Aria had no choice but to agree with her old friend's wishes.

~ I'll never be far enough away , I've always made sure you were close enough to save from falling..~ It was true though Ayane hadnot heard this from her ally, nor had she been close enough to hear her words now. Aria sighed and flated over to Isa who could read the doe eyed damsel like an open book very well. She spoke,though so only Aria could hear her own words through the speak.

~ Love is painful, you protected her and he still had her , away from us all without a soul to have known it. ~

Aria sniffed as a few streaks fell from one of her eyes. She looked so docile this way. It was, almost sad..

~ The princess was in danger, A' always had that girl's best interests at heart...her mother's own pact was strong...yet...he will be sorry, if the courts have their way-

~ I have a feeling that he will not seem the same once this tragedy has cleared.~ Isa looked so distant as her eyes seemed to be looking to the future, a vision had come and gone. Aria frowned and wiped her nose with her slender wrist. ~ I just hope that we can finally put that man's whining to rest. He never was satisfied with simply stealing the souls of we hard- working daemon and deity! For shame!~

/

As the foldimg pages had laid back against the spine ofthis tale - one in which our Chosen's adversary continued to berate inside his soul, the dragon thought and thought. He picked his brain as to WHERE in time he could run after his memories, in order to use them as snares meant for taming that damned sun- beast's protege.

~ I think...~ Roku had not brought the boy to one uncharted path, for even the gods had called it a shaken nightmare in which no adult could turn away from, even if they tried.

~ Hmm, the San Diego Psych Ward; nineteen eighty seven...and ugly era. My latest reincarnation of the catalyst, my one son had been in the hands...of a teen on the brink of losing his mind. ~ Roku had recalled the boy's troubled soul. He had kicked the bucket once those delusions had left him, his hert no longer beating in his tiny,dimly lit cell .

~ Poor Aiden Grayson..~ The king sneered as he concocted his last resort, his final way out would be through this door with the teen as his newest powersource to see the ending through. The boy would meet Aiden and deny that any good existed on the god's part. The brat had to give up his meaningless crusade then!

~ I am a soul stealer. None can change my name , the boy I was once...he is gone and never coming back.~

Roku had been plagued for many eras with the reminder. Lilu's last gift had beern his new form, an adult with power, never aging yet infinite he would remain.

The boy in San Diego was there, covering his ears as the king's voice dragged him deeper past the void, he was obligated to return to his side, or to destroy the brat if things got out of hand.

Aiden was still passing through the time stream as a speck lost in deep space. He had yet to turn the god's way...Roku bolted as a comet , finding the doorway as it was ripped apart, he sealed it back, hoping Aiden would have the gall to follow the king past this point.

~ Try as you may, I am everywhere you wish me to be...get ready to experience an undeath you'll never soon forget!~ His laughter dispersed as the doorway switched shut. A's damned order was damned. He could not tell her off. She had already noticed these changes since her creator's will had been decided- Roku had to burn.

That son of Nightwing had been the king's only reasdon for having allowed their game to drag on through time itself. He was hell bent,ready to self destruct as the god saw fit his own ending.

~ The boy was right about my envy of mortals..they know how to let go of their pain willingly, as long as they can. ~ The demonic king sped up to find the vortex's welcome. First he had to locate the facility where the city's most wanted were kept.

~ La Llarona ...~ The god sighed..~ Her reincarnated body aided in his demise last I recall..~

The god recalled a ghastly woman , one who had known the state as if her house were on every block. Her children were of course many.

Rokuro's late reincarnation was there..he saw the night sky as dozens of San Diego's city illuminated the downtown area. A group of friends had been drinking a the local bar. This..was the time before the boy would end up in the palm of HIS hand.

/

Aiden fell hard onto the ground. He knew that the smell of sea water and the bay's swaying waves wasn't unfamilar.

It wasn't Jump city...It was ...a bigger place..home!

Aiden leapt to his feet as he breathed in the nightime coolness as the nostagic scent washed over him.

" Mom..dad!" The boy realized that he was sixteen, the time next would be his seventeen going on eighteen. Roku was as good as having his goose totally cooked before November finally rolled around.

Aiden ran up the slope of grass and pricklly sand, the water was further off so that he could not end up a sopping mess by the time he-

" No..wait..." Aiden looked at the night joggers on his left..The lights that hung over a festive tex- mex style restaurant. The warf was pretty lively...it wasn't here!

" Oh my gosh!" One tanned, tall brunette was in her designer shoes, wore a pink crop top and capri shorts...

They had obviously just come out of the tanning booth as she and her posse looked painfully stained from the glossy ordeal. Her complexion was a magnet for this Cali sunshine...how upsetting.

" Did you see that actor in last week's premiere? He was so totes, fabu!" (This..was a bit of a risk...sorry!)

Aiden raised a brow by how the lingo here, was different. California had always been a hotspot for 'whatever' fabu was, though the styles had changed. Her hair was cut short in an angular bob, her girls by her were wearing Niikee flip flops and drinking Mister GroovySmoothie power drinks. They had not a care in the world as two guys looked over their aviator rims at the gals from the side of the broad boardwalk.. Aiden looked down at his shirt and saw that this needed to go. He breathed in as the magic of manifestation took over. ~ This is...not my timeline.~

He had a short sleeved white t shirt, a backwards red baseball cap, baggy cargo shorts and a chunky pair of sneakers.

More nineties than this timeline.

The women also had something that ooonly ONE place in time WOULD have; leg warmers, in summer.

" Oh, goddamn..."

" Hey, kid! You be trippin with your style , man?" Two guys dressed much better than Aiden, also a bit more use to the lifestyle came up to greet the kid. One looked at his shoes and pointed. " Aww, dang! You be wearin' the latest! Shit, brother!" The males were like Cy and Astarte, they had a sense of freedom where Aiden felt like wet blanket in the wrong time and place.

" Can ya hook a brother up with somethin' better?" He shrugged, trying to think about if he was making himself seem stupid, or rude.

The girls from before passed by, confirming that Aiden could be noticed here. Which ment Roku was tangible too.

" Aw, then you gotta try something else cause you look like they can't bury you tonorrow, some other guys would be offended, ya know?" Aiden bobbed his head to other dude's comment, tipping his hats to the other guys' fashion advice. He did not look dope at all. Total poser.

He simply walked away and then turned back to add. " Not dressin' my age, right man? Take care of yourself, I gotta go hook up with some people!" The kid left the dumbfounded trio to scratch their heads. As if that kid had been a runaway with no place left to turn.

" Not gonna help em?" One guy asked the one who's made the faux paux comment earlier. The lead scratched his head, shaking it and ignoring the kid doing his 'happy dance ' down the boardwalk. " Nuh uh, that lil' white boy was not ok ta' me. Looked really lost but at least he's where somebody can see em'. If we wanna catch up to him later' he proposed; Then we'll know what that guy looks like without havin' to put up a lost n' found poster. Let em be, let's just get outta here."(To my readers,this is just to drawa picture of the trends- I was born in 91 so more likely to have not known the eighties till middle school nostagia popped up. )

The wind was blowing as October had rolled in. Here in Cali, the weather dipped to a different set of degrees, even as a whispering spook left the air to find what it had needed all along.

~ Mi..Nino...~ The wind whispered as the city goers just went about their lives that night.

/

Rokuro wasn't in the time where Roku had expcted him to be. Here, a boy named ironically, Robin Madison was on the streets of San Diego California. He had run away from his mother who suffered from deperession and a few bad eggs at their doorstep. The woman was the kind who looked for a husband. She claimed that she would never have the strength or finacial stability to keep her one son afloat. A real sob stoy yet it was happening right in the states as anywhere else would seem another lie to the boy.

No cellphones like the tv ads depicted in the future, nothing but his mother's boyfriend's credit card. He had a bag with some socks, boxers and plain tees. His pants he washed at the local laudrymats whenever the streets looked safe. He slept in various places, the fear of going home became more depressing than upsetting Robin's damn mother to tears or her angry rants...she threw things sometimes if he ignored her..

" I'm never going home.." The boy had eaten a hand out of bread and a cold cup of joe from a very compassionate deli owner. But..that was it..If the man was caught spending the other man's money down to the last dime...

So, Robin got a job. Fifteen yes, it was underage pay. Handed to him by the guy on the corner who sold newspapers. At least he got a shower since Melissa Groban from his service to her, with the paper business, he was a great saleman on the side, but Robin had nothing. She had even handed him a donation but..

/

A sleek, black sedan's window rolled down slowly, only feet apart from the boy on the street corner, its occupant was surveying the child who looked lost...alone. The driver noticed the boy as his head rose up, his blue eyes depicted his alertness, while pushing past the oncoming fatigue and depression the boy still felt was nagging at his consciousness.

" He saw us...ah..gotta pull out." The man inside wasn't just a familiar set of eyes, he was just that. Roku smirked as his partner and driver rolled the window back up. "Stay a moment longer." The dragon said , lighting up a cigarette, knowing it wouldn't kill him.

" Humph, but he's gonna run i-

" Have you ever been hunting before, Sammy?" The dragon looked over his shoulder as the boy dropped his head into his crossed arms, sitting with his knees tucked in as he sighed. He hated being alone. That was the only thing that was going to push the boy to look for answers.

"N-no , Director Reubin..." The male cleared his throat. The man had arrived as a coordinator. A planner and director of the city's largest ward in the state. He claimed that this boy had been checked, and it turned out that he was in fact a meta- human. The DNA was proof. So, they had tracked the boy until now...Here it was.

" Then just pull away, I'll explain my thoughts to you personally . Let the child clear his head tonight...or until he's off his guard. "

The boy looked about ready to pass out as the man had in fact had the deli owner sell the kid his coffee, laced with an experimental drug.

" Is..this legal, s-

" He's a meta-human, Sam!" The dragon leaned back in his seat and puffed out one whiff of his white butt. " You'll understand once he falls asleep."

The boy wasn't ok with sleeping here, but his body...he felt so tired...

And lo and behold, the teen's powers kicked in! He blinked, the drug magically out of his system as he woke up, startled by the time. " God..ah..my head.." The teen stumbled off before the factor had freed him officially of the toxic substance.

" See?" Roku, erm*, Director Reubin leaned in to wrasp into the driver's ear. " He's not safe on these streets, not even the city'll permit it if he figures out that he can't die like that."

" Wait! " Sammy turned around a furrowed his brow up at the powerful man. " You were, gonna try to kill him? "

" Experimental toxicity. Not something most folk have heard of . You could see it in one in a hundred patients, some are striken with an illness, then drop dead..but this kid...he's not like them and the feds know it too."

" Crist...why is he just going free on us?" Sammy asked as the directer urged the driver to shift his vehicle's gears to tail the young man. " We aren't going to make him scurry into an oncoming train. That's not why I asked you to take the case."

Sammy noted this quite well as Roku..Reubin, had to understand the man's doubts. A psych ward director's s responsibilities were to ensure that the patients had a say in their treatments...but like this case, the boy was coined a threat in this era. Roku looked to the air as he contacted a ghost from the beyond. One weeping widow in which he'd not seen in centuries since..

"Shit, but his own parent called a detective to send her son in, I have to say that that's more villainous than what we are tryin to do.." The man watched as the boy walked down an alleyway alone. He looked like a hungry brat but didn't show it. Where was he headed anyway?

/

Aiden looked at the downtown nightlife a bit longer until he'd decided to shape his threads to suit him in this time. Every shop window showed tight pants, jean jackets, caps, oh god the eighties was no fashionable hall of famer wonderland! Even cartoons were created as two dimensional drawings...crazy..

So, Aiden added the bomber jacket, the cap he kept, the pants became footloose tight, the shirt stayed. It was pretty cozy.

"Ok, time to-

The teen looked down the way and noticed that the wind had stopped, the cars had not passed in a while...like a ghost...town...

The wind sharply whooshed over Aiden's firey head of hair as he'd lost his retro cap from the unaverage wind gust.

"Ah..!" The teen looked up into the sky and gawked.

~ Weeping...I cry for my Nino...Are you him?~ The woman wore a white wedding dress from another era. She had long flowing dark hair and a gorgeous complexion...but..she looked...

Dead. It wasn't alive. This wasn't happening now!

Her eyes lit up as a mask of a black and white grim skull covered her beautiful face.

~ Raah!~ She swooped down and Aiden for once had his powers back to full throttle. He allowed his sword to come out, his light had the demon back off, yet she was a real live ghost!

" Aye, Papi!" Aiden fled as he shouted out jokingly with a mock- shocked expression on his face. It confused the woman ghoul as she rushed at him again, from the building tension, she was after him? No!

" This is not rush hour for mee!" The teen felt like it though as he saw the cars vividly, rushing by. She had just frozen time? Come on!

He dodged a jeep that headed his way, the screeching halt of dozens of upset cab drivers on that night in bleeding october! That ghost was out to make meat outta him!

~! You are running...Aahh..no..no! I will not let you go!~

Aiden's brain recalled a movie..that actor...ok..but why? She was after some kids...a lot of controversy over white washing actors and savior issues with the film's over all, no Annihilat...oh crap!

~ La...Llarona...~ Aiden huffed and sent his butt flying down a secluded alleyway, right into...(It wasn't a bad movie but yeah, it did have those hollywood equality issues, as far as the guild goes... no yoke.)

/

I predict...four more to go in the way of chapters but who's counting? Cliff by the way! This was a piece of the wholereincarnated son bit in the earlier arcs I wrote . Later the wattpad story is bordering M so I was hoping to keep these fictions teen rated on good ole fanfiction . See the rest soon. In...chapter 23 I think? I messed up thechapters because of a prologue..so sorry ! Read on fir the exciting conclusion! Stay curious!


	23. Chapter 23

Teen Titans ; The Manifesto Pages- Storyteller Arc-Part Two; Chapter 23: Through these Iron Bars- Dire Consequence.

/

Ok! La Llorona is not evil per-se, she is the equivalent of a wraith or woman consumed by hurt and grief for the loss of love and her loathing is intense. Yet the dragon is going to need all the help he can get. Being a summoner, sorcerer, false- king, dead king and murderer to top it all off, Roku; as this supposed 'Director Reubin' is just going into phase one of his plan to convince Aiden that this lizard is not worth converting to the side of good.

So then, who was the little boy who resembled Raku from the dragon's tragic beginnings as a demi god and son to a powerful Djinn lord? Is Aiden right? Can he find he missing piece in order to change the god's fire back to a Flicker of hope ? Find out before a quick spoiler epilogue of the latest arc to come- The Chaos Round Arc- Disaster Arc Part One . It also maaay be rated M to reduce writer's block, don't worry and let me know if I should fire at will on that idea. On with the ending so far…

/

The sky looked grim , devoid of a way back and most of all, a reason to end this charade once and for all.

Robin of San Diego in the year; nineteen eighty seven , was still gripping a back alley wall for support. He could hear some screaming, as if he were being haunted again by that strange figure..in the corners of his young fifteen year old mind. Robin coughed, thinking he had eaten a bad, old pot of the deli owner's coffee. Though it couldn't be from the shot of caffeine. He looked off down the pathway as if reaching the end of a long, winding tunnel. He paused and looked at his shaking weathered fingers as if this was it.

That was when until, a gust of freezing wind pulled the teenager from his attempted –

(Ehem! He was contemplating ending his own life or turning himself in, to clarify those gruesome details. Kid was running away, he might have ended up in a bad place – recalling that this alternate Rokuro is a meta- human until the teen titans' story becomes his shelter decades later.

The hauntingly bizarre scenario of a boy running, rushing right down that street where he knelt in shock- a woman in the air! Her spectral form was astral- bound, hovering above, letting out a shriek of cries that filled the foreboding night sky…

The teen running looked excited, even frustrated that he was about to crash-

Ahh!" The boy in his grey hooded sweater and black long jeans fell into the alleyway, cornered with the new blonde haired rookie looking down on him. They were cornered as the wraith woman dove in to drag her next victim up into the clouds, though something snapped inside the run away Robin. His eyes turned white as his vision became something unnaturally intense.

"STOP!" A meta- human pulsing aura of light crowned the boy's head as he screamed for the being above to seize her angry assaults on the strange kid, who had knocked Aiden out as a result of his unapologetic powers. Roku as Director Reubin saw that light only blocks over from his parking space, the boy was ready . He nudged the driver to hurry, to find the boy's location before something else made this night any more incredibly demanding of his time in California.

Robin, while Aiden was cradling his bruised skull against the ground,he had an idea of what that light was…

~ He's gotta be the dragon…ung..~ The teen lost consciousness as the other boy felt his stomach heave. Robin's brow started to sweat as he passed out while La Llorona transformed and fell to the Earth in a new guise.

The black sedan pulled up in time just as the boys' world had grown too dim to see in the pitch black streets.. A man with a goatee…and glasses where behind them. His eyes were red with a serpent's glare.

"Bring them to the backseat. Sammy!" The director meant what he had intended, yet the go to driver froze at the sight of the young boys being tossed about until they'd entered through the ward's doorways..

"A..h..Is..thi-

" By ANY means." The man gave the other a hard stare, pointing to the sedan' back seat door with a chilling tone in his voice to follow. " By any and EVERY means. We will not let this monster run from our sights again!.."

The director turned then to warn the driver. They had to return with the subjects, before a certain goddess caught wind of the king's meddling..

/

Now, back where Roko had devised a way to snuff out her enemies for good in her dear king's absence, the daemon being used what magic she had left to keep Marcus from waking. The ice princess was on her way, with some company from the heavenly spirit domain.

"I have some gall left to strip you of an escape route." Roko looked around , seeing that it was..just her damned imagination. Great! She was as delusional as the –

"To your right, fallen kindred." The face of a wicked blonde with her face determined voice low, Roko gasped and stepped back. "The, no…You are the priestess." She sniffed. "What do you have in keeping to the shadows so long?" The demoness asked.

Thee Catalina Daia. The sorceress of Solaris's long standing cult. Any mastermind was and had been banished by her ability over the gods of olden. Roko stepped back as Catherine turned, her eyes a green that swam within the depths, had seen lights burn on the horizon…Had banish even Roku to another time!

"You are not allowing your life to be led purposefully-

HE IS MY PURPOSE!" Roko shouted as if slapped in the face by that insult to her god. The witch..would be buried for her first time in a new era! Catherine frowned at the obsessed dopple. As much of a mess as the guardians had turned this timeline into, inside out and over again- Roko had believed in him though for the very worst, twisted parts to never leave her side.. The double traitor had to perish if

The Chosen's plan was to work. The tainted being Roko was now, there was no way to change her back…He had already reaped the dopple dry of her innocence long ago. Even Prince Rokuro had not ben able to pull the ashamed creature from her ultimate goals. She was, no longer needed in the grand scheme of reckoning.

"Release the hold you keep now over that faire being encased in glass, or I will be forced to make your walls crumble. King or no king, you are fallen as we know it up in the clouds, to the earth. Now vanish from this-

"I am staying! You'll be dethroned instead sun- witch!"

Roko cackled as she let her powers hit Catherine's covered wrists. "I WILL BANISH THEE, DEMON!"

Roko jumped away as the witch gained back her powers, the kind she'd gladly fought..

"RRAAAHH!" Roko riled up onto her heels a shrieked in pain. Snapping, she was already too far gone. Which meant!-

" Obliterate!" Catherine sent her power of light and fire the demon's way as the lunatic dopple started to laugh, going about the room as if her limbs were cords- she had!..

~ I..am going to destroy you. You , one of the very thorns in my lord's side!~ With the eyes of a killer Roko pounced, throwing herself into the fire. Her wondrous example of her loyalty, was exemplary as she attacked from the ceiling. ~Witch ! Return to your traitorous council now…Or I will gladly send your skull as a warning- May my king be pleased… Now, die FOREVER!~

/

The dripping of a broken faucet…The sound of plip,plip, plip….as Aiden awoke to a room painted white and grey. Not an inch of sunlight touched this space as his eyes bulged open from the sound of a horrid cry down the hall. As if worried for that soul outside his guarded doorway, Aiden Grayson threw himself up against the barred cell. He shouted out for someone to listen. And then all of those occurrences, those thoughts and dreadful feelings pieced themselves back together.

"LETMEGO! II'M NOT CRAZY !HE'S THE ONE! THE ONE WHO'S TRYING TO…aAagh!" The scream ripped past the scared teen's lips as HE was shoved into a block, a cell right beside Aiden's with more stony plaster to keep the teens apart.

As the boy; the kid that weird ghoul had run into.. with his short black hair, buzzed back to help the dragon, Aiden guessed. According to the king's traditions and heritage as a fire breathing anthromorphic asshole, his kids had 'manes' that were long and could not be cut by scissors, only held back or trimmed before their heads ended up hosts all over again to a case of some massive bed head. Aiden watched as the guards came with the other teen in rags, his torn clothing a symbol of his run away teenaged rebellious nature, while his eyes were swollen and puffy from being broken by the cruel director and his cult…

" Here you're gonna be stayin' with us for a long time, until the feds decide if they shut you up or put you down pup!" The man Sammy was long gone. Yet the director's muscle men had the teen to cooperate as they hustled him off to his nice dank, dark cell inside the psych ward's walls. The dark haired boy yelped as the men tossed their new addition into his cell, not caring for a few bruises as long as he wouldn't start a riot under their noses. Aiden watched from his small window before the dragon turned to eye the blonde from-

"You'd be safer if you stayed away from eavesdropping, kid." The man grunted while he made sure that 'Robin' was safely secured inside his new home awhile. Aiden put on a brave face. Just a time bubble.

He had to try to break out of this place or else!

"I know what your game is and I won't pity you..I-

" Most eventually have learned to hate me. You'd best decide if your soul is worth this sort of, pressure."

Aiden huffed, though knew that the dragon had brought them here to make the boy WANT the king dead. He smirked up to the older male ,his hazel eyes hiding something the king would have found incorrigible in fact…

" You've played your hand,but in the end, I'm going to find out your secret-

" And in the end, I am going to break you." The king smiled almost malciously,hoping only Aiden had heard the man through the bars as Robin's cuffs were kept on tight. For any case against meta- human prisoners, one could not be so sure of themselves. Aiden held back a gulp as he swallowed a hard lump was there and it meant business..

Aiden suddenly, noticed how the temperature had risen within his tiny cell, he had started to perspire…oh god…he meant it!? " You….you'd only lose! HEY!" Aiden's chance was cut off as the window latch shut from the outside tiny hole were there but the temperature...Now it was too cold…

"S-sh-shiit!" Aiden shivered and grabbed a 'hallelujeh' blanket by his punctured cot against the wall. He decided to try and get some rest.

The younger boy in the other cell, had been put through the ringer…

"That dragon..cough*…won't kill us..he..is just..a lonely boogieman…" Aiden whispered before finding a second to himself in this, new environment. There was a toilet, a sink but no…nothing else yet the bed he slept on. Hopefully it had been checked for bugs. He shivered harder a the temperature reverted to what it had been upon his rude wake up call.

/

While Aiden had gotten some down time to brood in another time and era, Ava and Chris had walked in on a fateful surprise of their own. Chris reunited with Ava as the two separately took their time to recover and to search telepathically for the sleeping Storyteller, fae boy Marcus.

"Those daemon and deity are nosy to me.." Chris grumbled as the giggling few priestesses had left the duo to aid the other Titans on the next floor. So far another had joined the good fight and Aria was only hoping that Ayane could forgive the daemon siren for inviting herself into the reincarnate's life.

"Be a moment still…aha! Chris?" Ava grinned and turned to her lucky companion. " I know where Roko has Marcus hidden. He's back in the-

" The cat's…" She froze with her mouth gaping open. "Behind!-

Ava was blasted back by a beam of shadows. The figure wanting to ruin such a touching scene was the escaped Charl in his demon winged form.

" Tres' Bien! I am glad to have finally met the, extra sibling…of the chosen!" The ex- knight shot another blast as Christopher reverted to his astral wolf form just on schedule to deflect the blow. "Go! Ava!" Chris tossed the white haired princess away from the fight between him and Charl: the rogue imp.

" WE ARE-

NO!" Chris snapped at the winged animal as it slammed into the astral wolf. He saw stars as Ava opened a portal for herself. He was more a knight than Charl could ever be…Ava smiled warmly to her hero before setting off through vortex in silence.

" Your lady friend won't be joining us?" Charl frowned with his body lifted up in mid- air in the fair sized workroom. " She…is our princess.." Christopher coughed as his wolven form fell away. His immortal body was left to duel the lunatic. " You will say nothing of her, monstrous demon!"

He brought his blade up from its scabbard, it was ready to be wielded with honor, just as Aneiu might now have expected of a hero wishing to redeem himself…He was HER knight! No one could harm the princess of his reincarnate's longing.

~ Lady Reia asked that I return. Christopher was just here to see that. Though now I have enough time to right my many wrongs!~

Charl out a howl, a laugh that mocked the other male's dignity. He was a coward, he …

" No….no..nononono!" The scream that the imp let out rocked the ceiling as he was zapped back to normal size. The culprit being no one from the teen's world. The imp, had disappeared without a trace, as if haunted by his own cowardice.

Christopher heaved a sigh and wiped a drop or two of his own sweat from his silver brows…Ava!

~ I am coming, Princess Ava." Chris reopened a portal in hopes that she'd still be there, waiting as he came to hold her close…they had always been that way. Depending on one another through the hardest trials that life then had to offer.

Now, neither were backing down. Ava was going to be a true warrior under Chris's wing. Ava had to trust that he'd be there at her side for a very, very long time..

(Ok! So, Ava's old classmate Christopher Jean had a health condition and she was not allowed to see him after a while; this remains in these new years part two, Ava is kidnapped by Lilith and ends up ' birthing' the aspect Anya from the arc New Destinations , where Chris has been given another body after his just disappears from existence on Earth – as if he never existed. The reason why Aneiu the white wolf guardian came to bring Chris away, was because he was actually an incomplete vessel predestined to carry the soul of Lady Reia's noble ally. Reia believed that once Ava awakened to her abilities and rites as a royal of the Eternal Snowy Barrens, she would need a tutor or mentor. Sadly, in New Destinations when Ava is forced to return to Earth for aid against a menacing terror, she explains that something took hold of Chris's new body as the supposed teen Wodin after Chris had changed forms, though it was never the case at all. She then finds that Wodin was not the real threat, but a child of Loki's whose aim was to devour the moon deity as dictated in Norse myth...) Continue next line!

(Hati mistakes Ava to be a reincarnation of the deity and attempts to make her into his prize..ich…. His form was of an astral wolf and he had changed Chris's new body, while also deceiving countless deity of the Universal realm. He even found that Anya later had been corrupted by Lilith as she'd returned to free Aiden's dark aspect, thus Apep of Egyptian lore eventually did the most damage to Earth. Aiden's dark aspect however was devoured by Apep so that is why Roku is using Marcus as a vessel once Aiden releases his light. Roku can have the pleasure of devouring or destroying Marcus while Aiden is left an empty shell to mold back into the perfect dark soldier. He'll also be freed of his pact with the light dragon so Roku is trying to pry at Aiden in order to do this, and to get the blonde to acknowledge that the red king is an enemy to forever be damned. Aiden however saw sides to the king in the past that prove that he was coerced by the demon mother Lilith and can be freed from what the spirit beings call the cycle. Hard to break down the ENTIRE arc. Read it so you can see with your own eyes, I say…now! Back to this arc's near ending.

/

The deity women had been busy. So much so that Aria was beginning to develop something close to vertigo by the switching panels within this fun house walled facility. Isa has to carry her ankh out in plain sight around her neck. Ayane finally pointed once the ladies had reached the same door that Cyborg was attempting to pry open. Damian and his group came in as well from the elevator which had been in order to escape a sea od locusts two floors back down. Thankfully Raven was there to clear the air .

" Comrades!" Lorelai in Ayane's body called out though knew to lower her tone as a cautious reminder of the dangers that awaited them. Raven turned her head to see the princess echoing her voice out with Sakurano as a vessel for the moment. She motioned to Nightwing as he threw up a hand as if to usher the group over immediately.

"Almost…hacked lil' Robin! Dang, Richard. Your little bro is a whiz with those gadgets. Bruce musta' had a field day-

" Oh! It is you, Isa and Aria as well, but I feel that this reunion-

" Nothing is strange about it Star, nothin' but this whole funhouse version of Shoji's headquarters. I say THAT is super crazy." Gar received a nod from Kori and a chuckle from Ayane at the same time.

" Amigos, we might as wel-

"Too late to tell em'!" Gar shouted out as Cy ripped back the doorway, finding that a simple hack had not been enough thanks to the extra magic keeping whoever was inside, safe from prying eyes.

Sarah Santiago as Astarte flinched by the power that Nina's old crush still had in him. " Nina says hey by the way. She made it up the rank overnight. A real warrior on the battlefield." The bigger Titan grinned, glad that at least Astarte was watching over her pupil with earnest. " She's earned it. Now we can stop-

"Huh!?" Agatha jumped through the door to find that the rom was torn apart and upside down.

"Aggie, stay back." Kayu instructed as Kaien looked around for an answer amid the debris. " This is…-

"Wait!" Ayane pushed past Nightwing and went over to examine the wrecked workspace for herself. " Takahara's main office…It has been destroyed beyond repair. Oh no.." She sighed heavily and went to check on a secret compartment beside the cat's desk. " Nothing important was taken? How can this be!"

"I think that a certain jailbird just flew the coop. Team? WE are going after that dopple!" Right as Damian proclaimed out his start as the newest Robin to date, Raven had a vision flood her. It tugged the empath away as a figure had shown itself, blonde and brash as usual. ~ Cecilia, Daia.~ Raven frowned, expecting maybe Isa or Hecate instead. Cici smiled wryly in her shade of shadow and nightfall.

~ How is the hunt ? Hecate is willing to send Vespa along, or my best would not be enough?~ She replied, her eyes golden as her disposition as an Underworld candidate. This as why even Aluhainyu wasn't originally fine with Cici rising to power. A whisper in one's ear. She was too perfect to preplace the Grecian mother of the under realm's mysterious void.

~ You wish to locate the double, though another has found that the power it carries has become rather foul for an incarnate. It was never, in fact!...Roko once had a body, a soul…humanity. Roko was once suffering as a human-

~ The forbidden myth. You do not need to tell that story to me twice.~ Raven assured the sorceress in all black.

~ Gladly then, you'll require another. I have spoken with Lady Light. Hakuro also has had the news recovered inside his dimension of silence.~

~ Hakuro!?~ Raven exclaimed. ~ He's not ready-

~You'll just have to accept the demand from the council's side of things.~ Cici shrugged, sighing off her own discontent as well. ~ I am also against it. Involving the boy of A's is a risk in itself-

~ You…~ Raven took a step back. Cici was…not the same..

~ You have..changed…and I don't want you to come anywhere near my fri-

~ You live and die together, side by side.~ Cecilia expected Raven to be frustrated. What was one more enemy than any alienated ally?

~ This is nothing serious towards your Titans, dear empath of Azarath..~ Raven's eyes zoned in on Cici's golden pupils. Ah, she was playing the crony to Hecate then….No! It wasn't that-

~ You have to pull out of this-

~ No war, my dear.~ Cici chuckled as she took to reopening a vortex that lead beyond time and space.

~ I am simply giving your allies a thrust ' forth' into the unknown…~

Raven blinked away the cobwebs of the dark widow's realm. Cici had lost every ounce of redemption, gaining it back only to become …corrupted…she wasn't going to get many brownie points from Alicia for that.

Cy and Kori looked at one another before the doorway had been closed back…sort of up. Ayane left with a frown on her face, heading with both Aria and Isa to the place where a certain cat had kept her waiting long enough. Agatha looked to her left as if there was someone ready to take her home. Thankfully, her allies were here. ~ As far as ye hath been deceived, Chaos is still one of our energies..~

Agatha gasped and rushed over to Kay. " You ok? " He saw her as if something had tried to spirit away the young miss..Yet no such presence had existed.

"I think we had better scat to where that kid is soon, or else Roku won't let Aiden out …" Richard had to move quickly as Kori walked on ahead with her beloved husband.

"Nightwing.." She pondered how he'd fallen back to his old ways. Brooding over the worst to come.

/

"How…" Aiden yawned as he stretched himself out onto his musty smelling –

"Ew!" The teen had spotted a big fat roach crawling on the floor by his bed as the raised his wrist…

"Cuffed…huh.." Aiden noticed that he'd been visited, by a lousy lug – complete with a fancy set of handcuffs glowing on his wrists. "Must have magnets?-

"Anngh!" Not that only, yet he'd been outfitted with a shiny matching, metal shock collar to make matters ten times worse..

"Are you serious!?" Aiden received a second shock as he pushed his arms together..

Aand..Yup! Magnets as he'd suspected. "Too futuristic." The hero winced and leaned back into the wall by his cot. "That darn dragon must have smuggled in tech from Jump's high secu-

OR Shoji's lab…

"Are…h..hello?" A small voice came from beyond the bars of Aiden's cell away from home. He couldn't leave the cot while the dragon controlled the Chosen's lovely new necklace from his lab or whatever.

How had they gotten in here again!?

"Hi…!" The teen let his voice linger in order to carry it a longer distance. The other voice gasped as it was slightly surprised that he'd gotten through at all to his cell mate…

"Robin, right?.." Aiden asked.

"Yup, you ok-

"I'm not exactly! Are you though?" Aiden responded back while controlling his pitch.

"Why are you here?..did they...Those men have been following me across the city ..You used an ability before.." The boy wondered as Aiden seethed in a sharp breath in order to answer the run away prince's question.

"You did too..Are you sure that they've been af-

"The drugged me…it wasn't the first time…Back with that coffee, they even tried to!-

"I can tell you a lot." Aiden finally said. "I CAN TELL YOU who that director really is and why he's not just after you."

"Are you a meta- human t-

"Hate to say it, but I I'm here because of interdimensional magic.." Aiden wanted to laugh at his carelessness al to early. The dragon did not have the hero beat!

"Magic?..Are you lying to me ? I ran away cause my mom was gonna' give me to the goddamned government!" Robin spat. "You think magic is why I'm in over my head! Are you for real-

"Weird , but yes.." Aiden groaned as he tried to counter a nagging headache that had started to form.

"Shit, no." The ebony boy next door shook his head with a snort. " You might as well be a mole , or a spy-

"I'm after the same guy then that you want to put away for his crimes. If you wanna' call me a time hopping spy, then go right ahead!" Aiden exclaimed as his headache had only worsened by the extra emphasis added into his abnormal tone..

"This must be how it was for Vee to talk to me at your age.." The blonde brought his head down, begging for silence just a little while longer. His pained skull was going to crack first at this rate..

"Then..wait…Did you say Vee, by th?-

"Ah..that guy ..so lemme' guess?" Aiden snipped as his headache now had turned into a full on migraine.

"What? Did you see him in your dreams last night? Am I just talking to a wal-

"He's messing with you, so quiet or you'll explode!" Robin explained. "If you let your emotions get too weird, he'll send in her!-

"What are you trying to –

The distinguishable click of a heavy steel latch had Aiden raised up his ears. "Roll call?" He groaned and laid back onto his ugly cot. Like having one massive hangover …the movies did not mention wanting to barf out your brains.

"Alrighty, looks like it's again time to keep that promise." Director Reubin said this as if threatening to drag the teens from their harsh slumbering states. He walked as any devilish dictator, a real patrol man who was just outside the law.

His gloved palm stretched out slowly, a set of keys in them to dangle in front of the prisoners here..

"I ain't crazy doc!" One kid who was in his meta human form as a half sea creature , on two legs, spouted his testimonial out. The doctor dangled the keys closer…The meta teen jumped up, though his eyes bugged out as it had actually been a giant-

"SNAKE!" The meta teen dropped the keys, practically wetting himself in fear. "Carlos? Your phobia was so very obvious!" A woman entered the way with a white lab coat and two sharp heeled shoes to match her Director's tapping.

"Doctor LaRosa?" The Director smiled as she waltzed up to the cell of another..

Robin hid himself in the back corner of the tiny space. Docto-

"Hey!" Aiden shouted despite his god awful migraine.

LaRosa looked away from her target yet Director Reubin just motioned on over towards-

"Humph. He's throwing his voice." The Director Dragon sniffed , then left the wrong mass of hippie hair and drool to wait out his term. "I have the pleasure of knowing what makes EVERY ONE OF YOU FILTHY STRAYS , TICK..!" The dragon barked as Aiden had no choice but to cover his already damaged ears. The keys trans mutated into a guard stick as the director didn't just tap the item against every cell's window and door. He rattled them like he was waking a graveyard up..

"Myron! Myron Rowlands!?" The dragon hissed and slid over to where a black teen about a few years older that Aiden was, had readied to spit in the director's bespectacled eyes. Directors of psych wards did not apparently take harmless wads of saliva flung at their faces,e rather well. "Are you gonna make me pay for bein' fu-

"Agh!" The kid was sent back by Roku's psycho-kinetic wave of power. "Ugh…" Myron groggily got up from the cold floor. His eyes full of rage, he attacked the bars of his cell in the form of a Bengal tiger.

"Rrah! YOU POSER! YOU SOLD OUT YOUR OWN-

"ANGH!" The collar again worked its magic as it stunted the great beast's natural talents. He ended up whimpering in his cell in the boy Myron's body, crying to Jesus, god, some chaos deity from a punk band in the eighties-

"Who wants to speak out of line to the director, next!?" LaRosa shouted out to the miserable meta- children of California.

"We have brought you all here for one purpose." The director was again nearing Aiden's pitch black hole in the wall..

"To examine your abilities for the United States Government to decide your fates…and to eventually cure you…if we are at all told that this is the purpose of MY ward!"

"Aagh! " The room echoed by the damned remote in the doctor's hand. The magnet cuffs left on each of the many occupants were activated. Aiden was flung against the wall opposite his bed as the torment only made his headache far, far past that of needing a cure. Robin was glued to the floor with his face rug burned by the added friction. He grit through his clenched teeth.

"L..low..life..!-

LaRosa sauntered over to Robin's door as Aiden let out a shout. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" He didn't know if the doctor had good….she was just a criminal, ugh! He had..to..

"Do. Not…touch me!" Robin blasted the witch doctor back with a vivid stare from his two glowing eyes.

She gripped the floor and saw as patient Robin's rampaging had earned him a visit from-

"NONONO!" Aiden screamed as he shouted for the god to quite torturing everyone.

"AHH….SPEC-

"Magic words, this time? YOU DETEST ALL FORMS OF IT!" Roku turned towards Aiden as his mind soon went…

Aiden collapsed by the dragon's serpent orbs. They were just mind controlling…him..

Robin was..hollering.. as they took him..through those doors..Aiden felt his body also being lifted…Myron was dragged outside of his cell as the blonde's vision blurred over…

"I'm not afraid!" Aiden's ears listened as Robin spouted such profanities along with his farewell anthem.

"WE ARE UNITED! SO FIGHT BACK FOR OUR FREEDOM!"

Ok! i must,must go with the next arc because...it will lead to a lot of spoilers- to be further continued in...Teen Titans: New Generations- The Chaos Round - Disaster Arc Part One .


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